Olympus' darkest hope
by Elpis21
Summary: Informed by her sister of a new prophecy, Gaia tries to kill Percy before he gets powerful. And... Well, she succeeded. Oh, of course her plan went wrong, but in a way, she won. And it's all that matters now. Weekly updates. Gaia/Tartarus. Nyx present as well. Some OCs later in the story, and I guess a new take of an overpowered Percy Jackson.
1. One rock and one shadow

_Hey everyone! So, I'm launching this as a first fanfiction, and I Hope you're gonna like it!_

* * *

She was in the dark. Literally. She was in the shadows, melted with the shadows. It reminded her of _him_. Good old times.

She opened the door, and entered. What she saw wasn't beautiful, even by her standards.

Blood. Everywhere. Of course, she wasn't expecting anything else… _They_ had to come in. She knew them, as her husband (ex-husband? She was kinda lost there) told her without interruption. _They_ felt the kid. The child of both prophecies. But the sea doesn't like to be contained. Nor does it like to be aggressed. She entered a room. All the blood seemed to be coming from it. There was a corpse. She sighed.

The woman that was teared at her foots wasn't what she was looking for. Of course. She was looking for a threat. Then it hit her: If he wasn't dead, even if _they_ were looking for him. That meant… He defeated _them_. She was too late, it wasn't possible, except if she was too late. Or if he was strong enough to kill her.

She expected him to be weak, she expected him to be 3. And yet he wasn't. She had missed this opportunity. This opportunity to get the blood, and go spread it on that damn mountain.

Something cried, above her.

She managed to dodge the wet hellhound. As it hit the floor, it spread into gold dust.

She looked at the woman. The corpse. An inferior being, no matter what you say. And yet… Yet… she saw _that_ look. She had it. It seemed to be yesterday, when she last saw it in her mirror. It was millennia ago. Well, she had a good sleep.

The darkness of the room dissipated, just enough for her to see what happened. Obviously, what was lying there was _his_ mother.

And she was fearing something. She hadn't a peaceful death, anybody could see that. But as she died painfully, it seemed she had something. Fear, remorse, love. You know, _that look_.

That look you have when you know you come to an end, when you feel your very being fade, when you hope to last two more minutes, for one thing: Protect your son.

When everything is ashes, when your convictions are dissolving into nothingness, and you just hope he will forgive you for being so weak.

The room looked like a tornado had been in there, destroying everything, except the woman on the floor.

There used to be a table, and some devices she couldn't recognize. Mortal technology was still a new thing to her.

But she recognized the fountain. It was very little, and water was still leaving the… ducts? Well, maybe she didn't recognize it so well.

You know, about the possible tornado… The more she thought about it, the more she thought about a cyclone. A hurricane.

It was likely. Hell, he could even be 16, right now, having already… killed…

She wasn't ready to think about that. It was still recent (to her). And she had been mad. So mad. But now, she felt something weird. Regrets.

Of course, her son would have died. It was born to happen. He was born to die. That didn't mean she was ready. She knew he would. But that kid… That kid survived. Somehow.

She heard someone crying. The sobs were defectively some of a 3years old, not of someone 16. She drew her weapon.

He was hiding, in something that seemed like a very small lake. On the door was written "Bath room". Or maybe it was one word. She opened the door, and came in.

It… Well… He was definitively a three years old. And water was running everywhere. Not any droplet was following any kind of logic. Water was running. Without gravity, without logic.

Just like if the universe felt sorry for what happened. Just like if this was all a ceremony, to a loved one. A loved mother. That had been gone. Erased from this existence. Well, not entirely. Two oceans of green where looking at her. It took her several seconds to understand. They were his eyes.

A child of the big 3. All it seemed to be to her was bullshit. He was alone, and yet, he was so… so. So alike to her son. Well, to her son before she made her mistake. Before she told him to take a life. Behind her, shadows merged. They looked like a human. A mere mortal.

"Is that you, honey?"

Oh, primordials. She loved this voice. She loves this man.

"It is, T."

A look of pure happiness passed into his eyes. And then, worry:

"But how? Why here, now? Is that about the prophecy? Is that all about this boy?", he gasped, "do the Olympians know you're…"

He didn't finish. It reminded her of this spirit, still in his cell. Still alive. But so weak. She could have crushed all his hopes with one word. She could have crushed his hopes without even moving this incarnation. Without even noticing it.

And it was still here, and it was the reason he managed somehow to do that. To create a body out of shadows. To live his domain, without being noticed by any of his captors.

She noticed the boy was moving behind her, so she faced him. She wanted to answer her husband first. Or to hug him. Maybe both. It had been a long time.

The boy was trying to stand. The water was helping him. He didn't notice this. Somehow, he was there, standing.

The look on his face was pure pain. Physical, of course, but also pain from something else. The pain from the grief. And these eyes.

She should have faced her problems alone, all these eras ago. She should have never seen these eyes on her son. She shouldn't be being comparing her son to this brat.

Her weapon felt so heavy. Her arm felt like stone (which was the case).

She tried to slash. And she heard a sound. She had somehow closed her eyes. She had somehow missed. Her weapon was lying, on the floor. She looked at him. He looked at her.

He hadn't move, nor did the water. She had let her weapon go. She knew then she couldn't. She went to kill him, hoping the job would have been done by random monsters. She looked at her husband, her love. He had seen her weak.

She was surprise to find only concern in his look.

The boy was still standing, looking to her like a puppet, with water instead of strings.

He looked so empty, like if he understood what she meant, like if… Like if he wanted it.

Well, that was new.

Her husband took the weapon. She froze.

He wasn't going to…

She saw the look on his face. Pure hatred.

Something felt wrong.

He wasn't looking at the child.

He wasn't looking at her. She faced the fourth people.

A young-looking girl, with burning iris.

She was watching them. She looked 8. Her eyes looked way older.

It took her three seconds to understand who it was.

"Hestia", she growled.

Hestia looked at her, with only sympathy.

It was new. Once more.

"Hello, grandma. I've come here to bargain." _Wait, what?_ "Take the young demigod with you, be his mother, his father, you two. Spare him, adopt him, and I won't tell Olympus that you're awoken, but weak."

She couldn't agree. She had to… She had to not. She was here for one thing. And that wasn't to become an adoptive mother.

Her husband seemingly relaxed, but she knew he wasn't going to fall in any of Olympus' traps.

"It will help you as much as it will help him.", said Hestia.

She thought about it. It would have been great. Being able to settle. As much as sea doesn't like to be contained, earth loved it, right? But why was Hestia there, she had nothing to win, she had no way of noticing her.

"Everybody needs a hearth, grandma. You are no exception."

She looked at her husband, he nodded. She turned to Hestia, and nodded too.

The oath was made.

* * *

 _Hey, hope you liked it, and see you around! Don't forget to review, and to follow! This chapter will obviously be the shortest of the story, except maybe the epilogue, whiwh isn't written yet. Have a nice day!  
_


	2. Some random demigod

_Hey, so, the first chapter was rather…. Short? So… yeah… I'm not gonna lie to you. I will make short chapters. However, size of a chapter will be set to what I think suits the chapter most._ _The average chapter until 11 has 2,227 words. Please don't hate me for the changes!_

 _Moreover, the planning is one chapter every friday, the tie changing from where you are. This is an exception. There will be exceptions for few days when I decide, and I hope christmas will be one of them. Enjoy_

* * *

Annabeth and Grover were running. Who were they running from? Well, as Luke might say, they were running from three old ladies. Three old ladies from actual Hell, but, still; they felt their pride hurt.

It all started wrong. It always does. Well, they were sent on a quest. That was, like, Annabeth dream? But it all started wrong, due to a simple prophecy:

To retrieve what has been stolen

Two will leave, three might return

The guardian that failed, and the wise

Will be going before the demise.

They will fail. However, as their effort will pay

Everything that await, is betray

So yeah. They were two. Not three. Two. And that wasn't the biggest problem: If they failed (and they were already told they will), the gods were going to end all life on earth.

Just because of Zeus' bolt disappearing. And because he accused Poseidon to be the one doing it. As if Poseidon had anything to win, or anyway to steal the bolt. The only thing that Poseidon have been doing recently was being a crybaby. Something about the oath taking its revenge.

Some think he was having a child, who died. By considering the news, they found that he must have died nine years ago. Poseidon never have been mourning for a child for that long. But it's the only date that all New-York's water have been doing strange things, still unexplained: and heck, even the mist hasn't been strong enough to hide it!

So yeah. Annabeth Chase was screwed. She had to go, and surprisingly, Grover was quite easy to convince, especially since all his theory about an earth-manipulating demigod were false.

Everybody in that school was a mere mortal.

They stopped, and hide behind a tree. Shadows were already growing, around them. It must have been evening.

Wait. How can shadows grow that fast?

They started to think they were watched, but had no time to think about it, since the Fu… _The kindly ones_ have found them. Annabeth drew her weapon, preparing to fight. She faced the old ladies looking demons, while Grover tried hopelessly to stop them by playing music.

When the Fury named Alecto managed to hit Annabeth, she thought… no… she _knew_ she was a goner. But her knife was too short, and she didn't have a plan, how could they send them to war alone?

She opened he eyes, and pried whoever was listening she still had a drachma. You know, for the ride.

And the three monsters were dead. Shadows were around the fight scene, out of the ground, or maybe part of the ground. It might be crazy, but the shadows were actually helping them. Yeah, it sounds ridiculous. Since the very beginning of mankind, shadows never helped demigods. Except Hades'.

Was there a Hades child around there?

The shadows merged into a human looking figure, with purple coming from her eyes. The purple was dark, but the look seemed precise, as if it could look at your soul (and it probably could).

Some dirt moved on the floor, and soon rocks were coming, protecting the creature limbs and torso.

"Well, thanks", managed to say Annabeth, her voice slightly shaking.

"No need to thank me", said… well… everything, it was like the voice was coming from everywhere, different by every location, as if a legion spoke to her. The only thing that remained silent was the shadow.

It began to disappear.

"Wait!", said Annabeth, "who are you, where are you going? Will we see you again?"

The voice snickered as if it had a funny thought. "I'm nobody, going home before it's dark, and I don't know."

The figure completely faded… disappeared: it was a god, and she wasn't wanting it to fade. She then understood that Grover had fainted. She slapped him.

"Wait!" he said as soon as his head was hurt. "Oh. He's gone."

"Yeah, still don't know why he doesn't want to be outside when it's dark?"

"Maybe he doesn't manipulate darkness, just shadows!"

Grover theory was… actually logic. But if it was a god, then he should have more power than that, right? And hell, he was speaking threw earth! He had some power! They decided to keep going.

* * *

Percy was _so_ screwed. His mom had told him to not show his powers! His dad had told him not to show his powers! He teleported back to home: as always, Tartarus is the best place to be!

He opened the door, and came in. Mom was there. Dad was there. Aunty Hestia and Aunty Nyx were there!

He was _so screwed_.

They all noticed him. They. All. Noticed. Him.

He was willing to be back in the shadows. Yet he couldn't. If he had, he would have been pulled out by everybody in this room.

So he did something logical (for once), he sat, around the table.

"Hey mom", he began only to be cut by a hug.

He wasn't expecting that. He wasn't expecting it to be from his dad. His dad was kind of cold. He was a loving person, just not so great at showing it. Except to his wife. After the hug, everybody looked at him in guilt.

"Ok, just spill the bean… why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, son", began his father, and the sentence was once more cut and finished by his mother.

"You're going on a quest."

* * *

The footage was everywhere on Olympus. They all saw him doing what he did. Nobody noticed Hestia's absence at the meeting. She wasn't really there anymore (that was a joke subject).

What was the meeting about, was this new threat to Olympus. The mystery person. The "nobody", that saved one demigod in a quest.

"Here it is", said Athena, on the verge of finishing her subject, "Here is the third of the prophecy!"

Everybody became white to that assumption. He was going to be a traitor, and everybody wanted him on their side.

Except Poseidon, who left before the meeting, but being accused to steal every 3 seconds is something quite… tiring.

Anyway, her little show made every Olympian (here) conscious of this threat, that had to be first evaluated, then killed.

Or sent into Tartarus for all eternity.

* * *

"Say what?", said Percy, shocked.

"Yeah, I'm not very popular on Olympus", began her mother ("nor am I", said his father, but nobody heard), "so, you'll have to tell you're a son of Hestia".

"Not willing to hurt you're feeling, Hestia", began Percy, "But you all know that Hestia is a maiden goddess, right?"

"That's why you're going to be adopted, officially", said Hestia.

As soon as she said that, her eyes glowed. So did Percy's. When it stopped, they were both feeling great, and Percy's eyes where no longer purple (he felt so sorry for his father, who gave him these eyes), but they were now orange, like some fire. In the chimney, the fire grew.

So did every fire in Olympus, the Camp, and a Vesta's temple somewhere that has nothing to do with this story.

Weird, said some people, but most didn't even notice. It is to say how neglected the Hearth was.

"Well", began her mother, "everything that include prying to us both, or to Nyx go by Hermes, so you just are allowed to pry to Hestia".

"And,", said Nyx with some guilt, "you can't show your powers just like you just did guilt, "you can't show your powers just like you just did, _yes we know_."

Percy was rattled by the voice at the end. And by the no-power thing. As far as he is remembering, his power is part of him: Fire, shadow, earth control.

"You'll still have some fire power!", said Hestia, reading in his thought.

"Yeah, but how will I be able to fight without my powers? I mean no offense, Hestia, but won't that be weird if I control without willing it shadows, or soil? How will I fight If my powers are designed to help?"

Their looks were very serious. What the young boy was true. He had a point. Nyx materialized a sword out of nowhere, and said:

"Why would you fight with powers… when you have a sword?"

Percy took it, and swing it. It was really balanced, and they were a button on it.

You know hyperactivity? Well, he doesn't. But he has it, so he had to press the button. The sword disappeared into the nothingness. But somehow, he knew where it was, so with one thought, he brought it back in the world of the living.

He was ready to go back on earth, to have his powers coming from his mom. He just had to say Hestia gave him a healing factor, right?

The god and the primordials were all looking at his newfound determination.

"How much time has passed up there, mom?", he asked.

"Two hours."

"Then time for me to go! Bye Mom, Dad, Aunty Nyx!"

"Just Nyx" shouted the "aunty", as Hestia and Percy disappeared.

* * *

Once they were up, Percy saw a sign, as what he was reading on it didn't have any sense to him, and had to ask his aunt what was written on it. It was about an aunty Em, that sell garden gnomes.

"Monster?", did he say while watching Hestia.

"Yes, _son_ , now go!"

"Yes, He… mom!"

Saying that there was some chaos on Olympus was lying. It was way worse than that. Hestia had a _son?_ Wasn't she a maiden goddess? Wasn't she the hearth? Who would date an 8 years old looking girl?

* * *

When Hestia teleported on Olympus, she looked 21.

Zeus wanted to see her. As said Hermes. In fact, that was putting things lightly. Every god, goddess was looking from afar the council, shocked by the revelation.

"How sister? Do you happen to have a son?", asked Zeus, as everybody nodded.

"Well, I did like Athena, I used my brain: I adopted him."

Said Athena was looking shameful because of not having thought of it before.

"Well", said Artemis, trying to don't think that the first demigod her sister would have would have been a _boy_ , "How do you explain his scent?"

Hestia looked at her, and nobody liked the color the flames were taking:

"Artemis", she said with a low voice, "I am way more powerful than you think. Every one of my hypothetical children would have a stronger scent than child of the big three. That's why I swore maidenhood in the first place, you know?"

Everybody was taken a little aback from the pitch of her voice, and with her attitude. Wasn't she the gentle, comprehensive little Hestia? The little sister you never had?

She sighed, and continued:

"The fact that I don't have my seat here doesn't mean I want to see this family decay over little thing such as **STUPID** suspicions my brother has for Poseidon. The fact is that if you hurt by anyway my son, you're going to have a bad time. And that is for any of you", she said while facing Zeus.

All the lights in the council room now seemed to be useless, and were starting to grow weaker by every second.

Every god in the audience (and that was way more than 12) was rattled. Some said that the muses Had to write down this talk, for history, you know.

Nobody noticed how the two main events of this day had weirdly the same aura. Nobody noticed it, because it was false. Hestia had made sure to change his aura completely during the adoption process. She felt bad for her grandmother, knowing it would have been better for her to be there. Knowing she wanted to show everybody how proud of her son she was.

But she wouldn't be allowed to do so. She wouldn't allow herself. If she did, her pride, her son would have been endangered. And with Chronos struggling to leave, nobody wanted that. One other secret Hestia had to keep from the Olympians: Chronos was escaping, slowly.

The time is coming.

* * *

 _And that's it, folks! I hope as the past me you liked that, and please tell the future-me how to improve what's coming!_


	3. The hero paradox

_Yeah, did I forgot to tell you that I write my chapters way before I put them in the story? For example, this has been written in October, and if I follow my schedule, you should be in November. But I am quite bad at following schedules, so hope and see!_ _Thanks for everybody that knows the difference between Chronos and Kronos!_

Sometime, Percy was wondering why he was even trying. As soon as he entered the store, he saw the two demigods from earlier. He had no idea why he was with them. As if he wanted to be stuck with demigods that would recognize him!

Because he wasn't stupid. If the littlest shadow was moving, he was in chain on Olympus in the next three seconds. Well… except that for them, he couldn't be at two places at once!

He just had to save them with the shadow body, and watch it while saying out loud "what just happened?".

He tried not to think about it much. He knew some Olympians would have doubts, but the fact he didn't show any human body and that Hestia claimed him… was protecting him. He seriously owed her one.

Well, the man (who had donkey legs, and that was awesome) was currently flying using some shoes, and… wait, is the formula really "Martha"? Oh… no, just Maya!

He wanted to see the monster, but when he heard the snake noise, he understood. He didn't want any more to see the monster, he just wanted to hide. He closed his eyes, and summoned fire. That came easily to him, as much as summoning his sword.

As soon as he felt the heat to become unbearable, he jumped in the direction that seemed to him like it was where the monster was. He then sent a shockwave of fire.

The pained snake sound told him where his enemy was. He mentally thanked Nyx training, because battling without seeing was really important. He then attacked, once, twice, and a last time to be sure.

The noise of dust told him it was enough, so he opened his eyes.

The first thing he gat to check was if any shadow, rock, or anything moved.

That's when he realized he was in the middle of a lot of rocks. Someone appeared behind him. With all his concentration on Medusa, he didn't even sense her.

That was good: his surprise wasn't fake, so he didn't have to play (which would be his downfall).

Okay, maybe… maybe it would have been better to not threaten the girl demigod (Athena? Yes, maybe), with his sword. As soon as he recognized her, he pressed the button, and made Umbra disappear (yes, he decided to call his sword Umbra).

Obviously, the girl was astonished. It was the second time this day she had been saved by two completely strangers. But his look was warm, like a chimney fire. So she relaxed, and asked him who he was

"I am PJ, glad to meet you."

The satyr came then:

"Ok, man, that was crazy."

"thanks", answered Percy, even if it was new to him. He could have mad better moves.

"Who are you, PJ?", asked the girl, once more.

Oh, she wanted to know his godly parent.

"Son of Hestia", he answered calmly. That had the same effect it would have had if he told who his _true_ parents were.

"Son of… H…Hestia, but that is impossible!", said the satyr, shocked.

"Well, thanks, that is always great to know you shouldn't exist!"

"Sorry", said the satyr, still quite rattled.

"You shouldn't be able to fight", said Annabeth.

Percy looked at her and for one moment, the flames in his look seemed way more dangerous than ever. "Being a pacifist doesn't mean you're weak, spawn of Athena. It just means you know how to value life. My mother is someone way too underrated, and I'm going to change that."

Annabeth and Grover looked both at him with very interested looks, but Percy ended the conversation by saying:

"Anyway, I don't want to stay here any longer. Grab all you need, then come out, we need to move. And you'll have to answer me a few questions on this quest!"

On Olympus, everybody was looking over Hestia that was watching with pride. She seemed so happy that Percy used her power that way! Every god remembered to stop underestimating the goddess of Hearth.

"Hey, aunty Hesty", began Apollo, "when did you find the time to train this demigod so well?"

Hestia smiled warmly at her nephew, and answered "well, the goddess of Hearth has to protect her family, doesn't she?"

Poseidon finally teleported into the council not long after, as he was called by Triton, still watching from outside the throne room with many minor gods.

"What is happening here", he began as he watched the demigod that was having everybody's attention leave the store, and seek money for the travel in his backpack (that just appeared out of nowhere)

"Meet my son, PJ", began Hestia casually, as if it was completely normal to her.

Poseidon was a bit shocked by her appearance, for once, she was looking 21, and she was beautiful when she wasn't 12.

The demigod, however, caught more of his attention. His hair was short, like if he was trained by some military, and Dionysus surprised everybody by saying: "do you think he is Roman?"

At this thought, the sales of painkillers increased a lot, as all gods in this room (that means 95% of the gods) where having headache. Except Hestia, Apollo, and Poseidon, because they either didn't care, or didn't have enough differences to be affected.

Poseidon answered quite quickly: "No, he doesn't seem to be Roman, he must just have been in a military school."

"No", answered Hestia, "I trained him at home, and I cut his hair"

"Home?", began Zeus, shocked, "But isn't Olympus your home?"

"Nope", said Hestia, popping the p, "that's my family's."

Everybody thought about that: Hearth was disowning Olympus. That was messed up.

"And the Ancient laws?", asked Hera, worried.

"I only adopted him recently, and made sure that the people living with us could handle him. Furthermore, you seem to forget how little restrictive this Laws are, and you truly should read them."

As soon as she finished, Athena made the Ancient laws (well, just the part about demigods, because if she hadn't, they would have like, a library to read…) appear, and started studying them.

Hestia was right. Well, what she was doing was in the shady zone between legal or not, so nobody could tell her what to do. Hell, when did the goddess have time to read it all!

As Percy entered the train to Denver, his friend started to chat about if he was or not a threat to them.

"You know I can hear you, right?"

The chat in the background stopped. His… _friends_ followed him, and they took their seats. Outside the train, three old ladies were seeing a piece of cloth way too big. They were watching him with interest, and cut one of the string they were using. He felt the life leaving the string. Literally. So, that was one of Hestia's power.

Grover (or Groover, he didn't know yet), was looking worried when he saw the scene. The train departure ended it and with a nod, both boys decided to not mention it to Annabeth. The future Architect was way too stressed already.

Annabeth came back from the bathroom, using one drachma to tell Chiron she "found the third one".

The fact that Percy could have heard that worried him. He was lost, not knowing if that came from the power the young night was giving him, or if it was natural. People (and by that, he means Olympians) will notice if he feels better at night, right?

So… they talked, and after the two days and one night it took them to be in Denver, they were knowing each other like friends. Annabeth was pretty surprise by his personality, which is very different from Hestia's.

When they stopped by Saint Louis, she insisted to visit the Gateway Arch. Both Percy and Grover understood why, as they both felt the way Annabeth wanted to become an architect.

When they were in the underground, Percy wanted badly to ask Grover if they were any kind of monsters near. But he knew that would be pointless. He knew that would have been a yes.

When the three of them got into an elevator, they were a big woman behind them. As much as Percy tried to don't mind her, he felt something. She had a link to Tartarus… and her dog too? He concentrated, and upstairs, shadows formed a body.

Once they were up, and the lady didn't stop to talk about her boy, and everything. The door opened, and the shadows stabbed the old lady. Percy tried his best to be rattled.

"Don't thank me", said the shadow, as both monsters turned into dust. Annabeth was looking at him wide eyed, and Percy was becoming slightly nauseous. That gave him an idea.

"Well, doesn't look like the third demigod appreciate me, ciao!", said the purple incarnation of Percy, as he fainted. He managed to make the shadows disappeared a while after he touched the ground.

Annabeth was worried. Percy got that. What he didn't, however, was why she had slapped him. Percy was feeling miserable.

"Well", he said, "looks like this guy shouldn't be around me". He stopped, as he felt like chuckling. But he couldn't, he was way too tired for even that. One thought got threw his mind: don't be suspicious.

"So, who is he…", managed to ask Percy with the little energy he still had.

Annabeth chuckled "well, that is the one quest question."

As his friend helped him, and while he heard the mortals panicking, he used some energy to manipulate the mist. It was easy, their fear made them very receptive, and everybody wanted to believe.

When they arrived in the station, they barely managed to enter the train before it left. When Percy touched his seat, he immediately started sleeping.

To Annabeth and Grover, that was weird. His body began soon to radiate power, by low, calming waves. Soon, they couldn't even manage to stay awoken, and they spent a very good night.

None of the campers got a nightmare that night. Percy's presence seemed to be protecting them, and when they woke up, they felt ready to fight whatever the Fates threw at them.

Percy's night, however, was way less enjoyable. What he saw was a being attracting any essence in Tartarus. It goal was clear, he wanted to escape. But what he was doing wasn't right. Soon, he understood. Dear Chaos: Kronos was escaping.

When he woke up, six hours of travel were remaining.

Under the pressure of both Annabeth and Grover (neither willing to pay for the meal), he tried to make a meal appear. Eventually, he succeeded, and that got him glares from both of his friends, that just returned from buying three.

When they ate (all the meal, so they were pretty much full), they continued talking, and chatting.

On Olympus, however, the reaction of the young PJ was interesting all the major gods.

Artemis theory was that they were initially one being, and that now they were trying to fuse again.

Athena's was that the very being of PJ rejected the shadows, so he got some magic-shadow-allergy.

Zeus said that they both needed to be killed, and that got him to be out of light from all the torches for one week on Olympus.

Hestia was watching carefully, asking Apollo to jump in if Percy's state started deteriorating. She hurt Ares with fire when he said her son was a crybaby.

The only one that remained silent was Poseidon. He loved not being in the center of the attention anymore. And he wasn't ready to leave that. But the boy… reminded him of his lost mortal, his lost son.

In Tartarus, Nyx explained everything to the parents of Percy. They were rattled, afraid. Their newfound stability is entirely resting on Percy's shoulder, and the boy tried to be in two places at once. Hell (or Tartarus), he even succeeded!

For two pit's days, no monster regenerated. And some peaceful giant stopped having visit from his drakon friend. That's a long story…

Even the unbreathable air became pure (for one week), and all the five rivers god and goddess tried to see what was the problem.

Once they had sworn to keep it a secret (as much as the location of the weirdly human looking house), they were told everything.

 _Aand… It's over! Once again, it wasn't a long chapter, but you know what's coming next! And you can imagine what the hell is gonna happen! See you soon._


	4. How travel made Percy two

_So… Chapter 4 already? Oh god… I truly hope I won't have been uploading the chapters too early… Since they're all quite small… Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

As the train stopped, Percy was thankful. He just spent like… 18 hours (?) in this train without interruptions that last more than eight minutes, and sitting this long on a seat wasn't great.

They were officially out of money. The surprise bag they got from Hestia, and the loot they gathered from the lair of Medusa were not enough. Once they were in a gas station, Annabeth used one drachma to contact Chiron via IM, and was surprised that Percy didn't hear of it.

Actually, Percy was using Shadow Messaging (If you spell it S.M., your worse secrets would have been revealed to everybody) to contact his family. This network from Erebus was free, secret, and if you could manipulate shadows, you didn't even need to be before the message while it was forming!

That was when he met the legendary Chiron. The teacher of too much generation of heroes to count. Percy was disappointed he was shocked by the fact he was a relative of Hestia. Hell, shouldn't he have heard some rumors about it?

When they entered the low-cost restaurant, Percy had to mist-manipulate the mist for the servers, and to summon some food out of nowhere. He was tired, so eating some burning food and drinking some burning water was fine by him. Others were looking weirdly at him, and he heard some mortal speak about alcohol, but he didn't care.

During that time, Annabeth and Grover were enjoying the best (vegetarian for Grover) hamburger they ever ate. It felt like eating at every place you call home at once, and yet they were at this place.

When Ares came in, they had to wake up Percy. The god of war was looking like a biker, with burning eyes with different colors than Percy's. You see, Percy's were warm looking eyes, when Ares' were… hot? No! Burning your very being with pure rage.

Once they got Percy to stop mumbling that he didn't want to wake up, mom, thank you, he watched the Olympian with… tiredness. He was still sleepy, and to Ares disappointment, he wasn't angry at all.

"So", began Percy, "How come an Olympian dare to leave his mountain to help mortals like us"

The voice was low, but nearly extinguished, like if Percy was mumbling in his sleep.

"I came here to make a deal", said Ares.

"What do you want from us?", asked Annabeth, worried.

"Well, I want you to bring back my shield from an aquapark."

Percy's eyes opened a bit more. He was hearing.

"you see, my girlfriend and I were dating in there, but we got interrupted, and…"

"Aphrodite should stay faithful to Hephaistos."

Ares looked at Percy, surprised.

"You know I have a ton of mortal girlfriend, right?", he asked, "it could be with anyone of them".

"No", said Percy, "I think that I'm developing another of Hestia's power. I can feel what you desire the most, where you want to be, and with who. That includes watching Olympus burn."

Thunder was heard.

On their way to the aquapark, Annabeth was willing to talk.

"How come you want to sleep so much?"

"Well, I'm away from home. Not the best thing to people like me."

"And that new power, does it only work on gods, or…"

"it works best on mortals, but it also works on demigods as well. I can see what you consider as home. The camp seems nice. I can also see what you love, or desire. What the name of that blond boy? Luke?"

Annabeth was blushing furiously, and that made both Percy and Grover laugh.

Percy then turned on Grover. His eyes were burning slightly, filled with melancholia.

"And you, my friend… It seems everywhere there is Nature is a home for you. And yes, the Maine looks beautiful."

Then Annabeth thought about something: "Well, what does the shadow want?"

Percy thought about it. What _did_ the shadow want? What did he want, where is he going? His head started aching, as, unconsciously, he started manipulating shadows to make a fake body.

It made him less tired this time, and since he began, he had to end it.

Once the body was ended, he made it talk:

"Well, I just want to help you, right? Come on, son of Hestia, you got to know what I want, right?"

Percy looked at his friends, pain in his look. "I don't know"

"Truly disappointing", said everything around as the shadow went back to nothingness.

Percy was proud of his show. Even if a thought frightened him a bit. He didn't lie. He didn't know nor what the shadow, nor what he wanted.

He managed to keep going, with the support of his friends.

* * *

On Olympus, Ares and the other were a bit… shocked by the new ability of the son of Hestia. Well, Hephaistos was happy PJ, the mystery of the century supported him, but others (and that included Hestia) were just worrying how strong would this demigod become.

Poseidon, however, was starting to plan. If he could make the kid swear on the Styx he didn't steal the lightning, he could make peace with his brother, and find the culprit.

He was about to ask Athena about it, but remembered they should have been hating each other. So, he didn't move. He had it, he just needed the help of the kid.

Something in him was still against the idea. Something in him was against the fact that the boy would see who he truly was, how despaired he felt…

He would do it. But only if he was desperate. Only if not doing so meant the end of the world.

He owed to Atlantis, to Sally, and he was going to be strong. For his subjects. For her.

Hestia was looking at him, sorrow on her face. Well, so much for strength…

* * *

Once Percy was in aqualand, he had to plan. They found the shield, and it took them less than three minutes. That meant one thing. The boat was trapped.

Percy volunteered himself to go on the boat.

"You", he told Annabeth, "you are going to catch it. Grover is going to make me fly to leave the boat. Not too long, please, Grover. I like feeling ground under my foots."

Both campers nodded, so Percy went on the boat. He then shouted.

"3! 2! 1! Annabeth, catch!"

He throws her the shield, but missed. The shield ended harmlessly in a window, and he felt the boat moving.

Tiny spiders were coming from everywhere, and he soon noticed they were mechanicals. He noticed too the shout Annabeth made as she backed down from the pool with the shield.

He then felt himself flying. It was very tiring. He was used to making energy come from earth, so, once he lost his connection with it… He felt very nauseous.

Somehow, he had caught a piece of pink close, that was supposed to be smelling good, so that seemed him very… out of place.

As he landed, he felt energy coming back in every of his muscles again. It was good…

As he handed the loot to Grover, he began to look for toilets, and then… well… let's say he summoned predigested food without using his power!

It took them time to be ready again, as they all felt pretty sick of the experience (Satyrs have very good noses).

Then they headed back to the restaurant, and gave Ares his shield, and Aphrodite's shawl.

"Well then", said the god, "here you go!"

They looked at the truck that got suddenly opened. It was a truck that was used to transport construction materials.

"here is your ticket to Las Vegas! Don't forget to take your bags!"

None of them had the strength to fight back, so they came in, settled and looked into the bags.

"Something feels wrong", said Percy.

"Yes", said Grover, "asphalt".

"No, the bag… I feel energy coming from it…"

Then they heard a bump, and the motor started. They were gone.

It took them one hour to sleep.

Once again, the only one dreaming was Percy.

He was in an old block. A low-price block, like somewhere someone poor would leave. As the son of Hestia (adopted only officially, but… still!), he found it horrible. Everyone should be able to have a decent home.

He then heard someone cried.

It was a baby, looking young. He was decorated with blood. Gods, they were so much blood.

It took him time to notice how every pipe has been broken, how the water was flowing without following physics, how nothing made sense. Why was he dreaming about this baby?

The baby had the same hair color than him, but that was it. His eyes were glowing with a green light, green as the ocean.

Somehow, Percy knew what had just happened. That baby was either a son of Poseidon, or Oceanus. The former was more… likely.

He heard a voice, calling "PJ!". It looked like Annabeth.

So, he woke up. All his body was aching. And both his friends were looking at him with worry.

It was hot. I mean… not this kind of hot… but the weather was hot, as if the sun tried to burn his very being. To Percy, it was worse, as he felt energy radiating from the backpack too.

Annabeth asked him to explain his dream. For science: he was a son of Hestia, so maybe that gave him some powers over his dreams or something? When he did, Annabeth looked disappointed.

Her theory was that he took nightmares from demigods. And she feared effects when he would be in Camp.

So, when the truck stopped, they were in Las Vegas. It was night, and that immediately gave Percy a boost of energy. Now, they had to find a way to go to Los Angeles, and without money, it would be hard. They sat near of a fountain, because e the near water seemed to be refreshing enough to let them think about what to do now. Annabeth was mumbling about how terrible the quest went, and how bad it was planned.

Then an old man sat near them. He was wearing Hawaiian clothes, and smelt like sea. Both Grover and Percy immediately recognized him:

"lord Poseidon", began Percy, "what do you want?"

Poseidon looked at them, and Annabeth gasped. His eyes were empty of life, it felt like he was dead inside. So, when he answered, it looked like it was painful to him. None of the demigods (and satyr) had never seen a god that powerful that tired.

"I want to help the demigods that are helping me."

He then gave them three marbles, and a pass… to… something?

"When you're in Hades, break the three marbles to come back, and use the pass once near of some water to be instantly teleported near some sea you want.

Once the god left, Annabeth told them about the lake Mead, that shouldn't be far.

And of course, on a map of the United States, it was near. In reality, they had to walk nearly 30 km to get there. It took them the night and half of the day. Percy insisted on sleeping here. They were all tired, and teleporting was never something you should do sleepy. That's why he slept first.

As he asked, they woke him up at 11 pm, so he could let them rest. They spoke about a cyclop, but nothing too dangerous.

When they were asleep, he activated his shadows power. And he understood why they didn't had to fight anything too serious. They were circled by monsters, that just waited until night to be stronger.

Poor monsters, really. When she shadows turned them into dust, none of them understood what happened. None of them knew they were attacking a part of Nyx's family.

And thanks to all the Olympians watching, Percy had to meet with the shadow, once again. It was really less painful than the two first times, as both night and his sleeping friends helped him.

"Hey", said the shadow, "saved you once more".

Percy giggled. From his point of view, it was all a big joke.

"Well, thank you, but I can't really repay you, I don't even know who you are?"

"Are you sure?", said the shadows, before making his ''savior '' disappear.

Percy frowned. In the end of the discussion, he wasn't in control. He didn't make the shadows (nor the shadow) say that. But he still felt the connection, as if… As if his subconscious was speaking.

As if his very being was torn apart, one part in his body, one other part in the shadow.

Part of him felt relieved. He could still control when it appeared or disappeared.

* * *

In the under-under-world, Nyx finished explaining to Tartarus and his wife what was happening to Percy.

"So… his powers are currently tearing his soul apart?", asked Percy's worried mother.

"Yes, but that's not as bad as it sounds. What I think is that he will be able to be two places at once for good, but that shouldn't be able to kill him, thanks to Hestia's powers. But it will be painful".

 _Thanks for reading, don't forget to review and to fav/follow if you want!_


	5. How go to hell and back And heaven?

_Do you know what is the worst? Choosing between plot twists. Because there will be. And I have a few twists that can't coexist in the same story. Anyway, let's go!_

* * *

Percy woke his friends up at 6. As he calculated, that made them sleep for 7 hours and that would be enough. He shadow-scanned the area a last time before doing so, but it appeared monsters were all dead.

"Hm… Pinecone... Music…", mumbled Grover as Percy tried to wake him up.

That gave the Hestia's ''son '' an idea.

"Grover, watch out! You're burning!", shouted Percy as he manipulated fire.

Grover instantly woke up, so did Annabeth.

"Well", said Percy, making the fire disappear," looks like you're all awoken. We should leave before some other wave of monster finds us".

Annabeth gave him an interrogative look.

"let's say I saw the shadow tonight".

Ten minutes later, they were ready to leave. Percy had feared he left Ares' bag in Las Vegas, but someone took it. He didn't ask who.

As they entered the water together, Percy felt something weird. You know when it was night time? The surge of power? Well, it did the same thing. He tried to not think about it. He had enough powers to hide already.

Annabeth took the paper out of her pocket, and suddenly they were on Santa Monica. With Poseidon's blessing, they noticed they weren't wet at all, and the weather of this summer was good enough to keep them warm.

What was horrible, however, was to walk for hours to go to Hades entrance. Percy knew where it was, as it was one way to go home without teleporting, but he didn't know it was that far from the beach. After walking for way to long, they got into a bus. Percy felt bad for not paying, but his legs were just aching too much.

When he stopped the group, Grover was not believing him.

"DOA's studios? Are you sure it's our way in the Hades?"

"Sure", replied Percy, "one of the monster wanted to go back!"

"Oh."

Percy opened the door, and bowed sarcastically when his friends came in

They got quickly into the waiting room, and Percy said:

"See this man? He's called Charon, and he is our way down there."

Percy stood before him, and said:

"I know, we're not dead."

Charon looked at him like if Percy was an idiot.

"but I'm here to help Hades, so if you let us in, I'll be sure to let a word about how little you're paid."

"Who are you?", asked the ferryman.

"We're the quest to retrieve Hades' tin hat. And yes, I know about how to pass through Cerberus, thank you very much."

The boatman looked at Percy as if he was crazy, but said. "Ok, three drachmae per people, and I let you down."

"Deal", answered Percy, as he let go of nine drachmae. They only had two lefts.

"here we go, then", said Charon.

Annabeth and Grover were watching Percy with a lot of surprise. With their knowledge about Greek mythology, and recent quests, they knew passing Charon without either dying or spending way too much money haven't been done, since… well, Orpheus.

After the ride, Percy thanked a lot Charon, and they were gone to face the next surprise, Cerberus.

"uh… PJ, Annabeth…", began Grover, "I'll let you know that Cerberus says you have ten seconds to flee. After that, well… he's…"

"Hungry, I know", said Percy. He summoned out of nowhere a meal, and gave it to Cerberus, then, as the dog as big as a house was looking at the meat, Percy began to cuddle the dog.

All his friend, and possibly all Olympus looked at him in shock.

When Cerberus moved out of the way, Percy said "I'll come back later, big guy, ok?"

"PJ, did you just toy Cerberus, the guardian of hell?", asked Annabeth.

"Well, Orpheus is one of my favorite hero, so… I figured I would use his strategies, to bad I can't play music, though…"

They kept walking until Grover's shoes activated.

"oh, no. They will go to Tartarus", said Percy.

He wasn't worried about his friend. He knew, even if the shoes made him go to Tartarus, he would be able to protect him. He was worried about letting everybody know of his true power.

As soon as Grover began to take off, a shadow cut the wings, and Grover landed before it was actually dangerous. Well, he hit the ground rather… hard, but he wasn't endangered too much! Right?

Percy did know it came from him, he knew the shadow was one of his own, but he didn't control it.

He turned around to see two purple eyes.

That was definitively not him. And yet it was. He tried not to think about it. He didn't want any headache. Nor did he want problems.

The shadow disappeared.

And they walked once more. Seriously, why did they have to walk so much! At least the train let you sleep!

When they got into the castle, they saw zombie guards. None of them tried to attack the group. All the campers and Percy saw in their eyes was fear, and Grover understood they feared Percy.

To him, that was logic. Zombies are dead being, right? Isn't hearth the expression of life?

When they entered the throne room, Hades was alone.

"Well, well, well… PJ, the son of Hestia… you are quite a celebrity on Olympus, aren't you? Do you think that gives you the right to steal my stuff, and then come to me? To laugh at the god of Hell? Give me back my helmet!"

"Give us back the lightning bolt!" shouted Annabeth.

"Don't think I'm stupid. You have it in your bag."

They all eye widened. "So that's where the energy came from!", said Grover.

"Wait", said Annabeth, "if Ares had the bolt, then…"

"he has the helmet!", finished Percy, earning a glare from Annabeth.

"Don't try to put the charges on Ares, demigods!", said Hades.

"Well", began Percy, "I can see everything someone desire, and for Ares it was seeing Olympus burn. I can prove it, I swear on the Styx: for you… well, I'll keep them safe, don't forget to give them a home!"

Hades looked at Percy like if he was an alien.

They used the orbs given by Poseidon, and left. Then they arrived on the Long Beach, and Ares was waiting for them.

"Sup"

Percy sighed. The now fully uncontrollable shadow appeared at his side.

"Need help?", said the shadow, grinning like this was a good joke.

"We'll see. Ares, give back the helmet to Hades!"

Ares smiled. "Well, since you know me… you know what I'm gonna answer, boy!"

"So, that's a yes", said Percy to shadow, "need you".

As soon as he said that, shadows kept flying into Percy until his body was covered by the shadow's armor. Sand made protective plates, and fire completed the thing.

"I, PJ, challenge Ares in an honor duel over Hade's helmet. Do you, Ares, accept the fight on the little honor you still have?"

"Spare me the chat, demigod. I'm gonna destroy you!"

Then Ares rushed. He swung a sword. Some fighting pigs were summoned in the background. He was fast. But Percy was faster. Especially with all his powers. He dodged the attack of the puny god of war, and pressed his hand on the god's head.

A purple light came from it, and Ares' body began to glow that color. The pigs came back to ashes.

"What did you do?"

"Tartarus' fire. Say hell-o."

Ares body went into fire, that didn't physically hurt him, but tortured his spirit. His shouts were no longer rage, nor pride. It was pain. Pure and simple. If Percy wasn't focused on keeping the fire, he could have heard Annabeth and Grover said "Unbelievable" at the same time. To them, PJ's armor was made of burning darkness, one eye orange and the other purple. Both glowing. The rock parts seemed now to be pure obsidian, and sand was flying everywhere, like fleeing the fight scene.

So did the sea. It was backing from the scene, forming like a growing sphere where water was banned.

"I yield! I yield!", said the god, pleading for his life. Mortals were coming to see the show, and Percy could hear some police sirens. To them, it appeared as street fight that turned wrong, as both fighters were burning.

"The helmet first, Ares.", said Percy coldly.

As soon as the helmet appeared, he took it, and unfused with the shadow boy, which was laughing with an incredibly spooky tone.

It took him a while to calm down. So did the fire around Ares.

"Need a lift?", said the shadow at Percy. Said Percy nodded.

Immediately, all the quest members (and that included Grover and Annabeth, still shocked by Percy's demonstration of power) were standing before Hades.

"Hey uncle", said Percy, as he gave him the helmet" so… here's your thing! Be good! Don't forget to raise Charo…"

They were in thrones room before they knew it.

"…on"

Shadows evaporated around them, letting them be seen by all of the present gods.

"So", began Zeus, "we know of you, PJ, but who is the shadow?"

"Lord Zeus, call me Skià. Bye PJ, see you soon!", said Skià before leaving.

Percy opened the bag and said "I believe you know of what happened on the beach. Ares betrayed you, I had to defeat him, (by the way, Apollo, don't forget to heal him), and I've proven my… _uncle_ innocence. I would be grateful if you accepted to stop this earth-destroying war before it begins, and apologies to lord Poseidon. By the way, I dreamt about your father, e's leaving Tartarus slowly. Do what you want with these information, I'm out of here."

He threw the mightiest weapon in the universe at Zeus, who caught it. Some gasps were heard.

Percy turned around to leave the room, but Artemis shot at him. Instead of touching him, the celestial bronze arrow melted at one meter of him, and didn't hurt him. He looked sorry, and at the arrow.

"Stay here, _boy._ ", said the huntress goddess.

Percy faced her and asked casually "yes?".

Ares then teleported here, in visible pain, and when he saw Percy, his look became… fear? He left immediately. That made the silence complete. Some tried to compare Ares skin with Hades'. That was idiot. Ares' skin was obviously paler.

However, Artemis somehow founded the strength to keep going:

"We have to put you into trial", said the goddess, looking strait to her father, maybe for approval.

The god of kings and king of gods was about to talk. But the next sentence was Percy's.

"Lady Artemis, if you fear my power that much, it would be profitable to don't make his owner you're enemy. I can't make you change your point of view over me, since you convinced yourself during millennia that men were dangerous, but I can insure you that I'm no threat to your power, unless you make me be one."

As he finished, lights coming from the different torches extinguished, and it took them several seconds to be back up. Curiously, the overpowered demigod didn't use this time to run, he just stood there. Zeus was about to answer, but could not.

"Well, if you're finished with threatening me, I have a mother to see".

Annabeth then fainted. Grover, at least, had done so since the very beginning of the nice chat without a noise, but every god heard the **bump** that followed her fall.

Apollo chuckled, and earned a glare from nearly everyone still in the room. "Not fun", he sighed.

* * *

During this time, Percy was enjoying time with Hestia. They were sitting in one of her temples, that was definitively less decorated than the others.

"So, _son_ , didn't anybody told you to not threaten the mightiest gods in this earth?"

"Well, _mother_ , I think you did, you will do it, and I'm pretty sure that's what you're doing right now."

"You know, I'm grateful you used so much my powers. Normal people would think they're useless in the real world"

"Well, I used Skià's too. And that's not because you're pacifist that you're weak. It just mean you valorize life before pride."

"Why Skià, by the way?"

"I don't know, I don't control him!"

"Hm. Good one, _son_."

"I'm not joking, Hestia. I don't know what Skià is, right now. But I. Don't. Control. Him."

Hestia nodded. She did never have any children, nor any champion. Percy was a first, so giving a soul to shadow… why not? Moreover, his powers could possibly rush another level by combining, or something.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you. I contacted home by our common friend of the night, and they told you to stay on the ground and to join the colony for now."

"do you have a cabin? I don't remember seeing one in Annabeth's memory."

"Uhhh… No."

"Do you think Chiron would mind if I make you one? I mean, I'm the son of the goddess of Heart, I got to be able to build something! Especially if Skià helps!"

"I guess Chiron wouldn't mind, but that's Dionysus who is in charge of that kind of thing."

"Well, I think I've got the power to make a city safe for demigods, so… he'll agree, right?"

"you know they have been refusing to get minor gods cabin out of pride…"

"There is no minor god. Just forgotten ones."

"That's my son!"

"I know someone who'll argue about that!"

"Me too", said a voice behind them.

As they turned to see who spoke, they were surprised to meet the guardian of the oceans.

"PJ… Well, if I was stupid, I would think that would spells P.i.j.a.y., but, despite everything Athena keeps saying, I'm not. And I want to know why this demigod has control over the water, and why his name is the one of my dead son."

"Wait… what?"

* * *

 _Here you go, the end of the basis of the plot in the book one. The next chapter will still be in this summer, but that doesn't mean I'll end this now. Normally, if I follow my plans, we should be in the end of November, and I plan to make both series (yes, Percy will be in the second prophecy). As for the end of this book, I know it was a bit quick, but I prefer not to re-explain everything, because both characters and readers know where are the locations and what is happening (for the most part)._


	6. How to survive what's normal life

_Hey everyone, so, here we are for a chapter made for the transition between book1 and 2. It may or may not be longer than the previous one, but I hope you won't see it like a filler, because I didn't make it for that._

* * *

Perseus Jackson entered the camp like all demigod: followed by way too much monsters.

For the occasion, Skià had lend him an earth armor, and he wanted to know something: he wanted to know if the barrier around the camp was a cone, a sphere or a cylinder.

When the hellhound slipped against the said barrier, he had his answer: it was a cylinder.

The group of monsters was beginning to attack the tree he was on to make his observations, so he had to attack them. Moreover, they were becoming quite a problem. And he didn't want demigods to claim his kills. He thanked Skià, and jumped.

When he touched the ground, he made a shockwave of fire. Seeing that none of the monsters were dissolving, he summoned Umbra back into this world, and fought.

As he fought the monsters, he remembered how they had to use Lethe's water on Poseidon. Not much, and he'll still be suspicious, but that'll do the job. That is entirely thanks to his dad. He still waited a chat with his parents about that, by the way.

Aunty Hestia decided to give him no answer, no clue, nothing. He'll have to work with that.

The last monster turned into dust. Percy looked at his watch. Thirty-five seconds. Well, he had been slow. For twelve monsters (that includes the one catapulted for science), he should have needed twenty-four seconds.

He then looked up at the tree, which somehow showed him some memories of a shield. Odd. Was there someone in that tree?

He passed the path of dust from the hellhound. Good. To this camp's magic, he was considered as a demigod. Well, to Poseidon, he was.

Not far away, he saw a house. Using some of Annabeth's memory, he found that Dionysus was probably there. He arrived to see a veranda where the god of wine was playing with the "legendary hero trainer", Chiron, and some satyrs.

When they saw him, they were a bit shocked by his first question:

"Do you have any kind of shrine for Hestia? No? Where can I put it?"

"Calm down", said Dionysus with a glare, "what makes you believe you can build it?"

"Well, I have a shady friend, that…"

"No… I mean… What makes you believe that I allow you to build one?"

Percy had a hard time. He wanted so badly to laugh… But he couldn't! If he did, his all plan was null, and he wanted to help Hestia, for once.

"Well, I thought your aunt was an Olympian, even if she wasn't part of the council. Didn't she give you her place?"

Dionysus felt belittled. That didn't stop the hero.

"And, well… this is supposed to be considered as the home of demigods, including these children of yours that you can't help but like, and it appear I have some nightmares-safe properties on demigods around me. So I thought you'd be happy to have a shrine, temple, or anything…"

Chiron was watching the young man with interest. He was speaking like a son of Athena, but the experienced trainer knew he was more… powerful than what he let others see.

"And finally,", said Percy at the shrinking god of wine, "mom is everything but weak. A shrine in here for her, if someone is in there, could complete the colonies defense".

Percy's look was now victorious. He knew he had won, he had pierced the indifference hull Mr. D. built to defense himself. From PJ's point of view, the god has always been considered as the less powerful of the Olympians, even weaker than Aphrodite.

So Percy had to say the word "weak", with a negation. Because Dionysus related to Hestia, because fest looked up to Hearth, because she too was rejected.

"Fine, I don't care… anyway."

After that chat, Percy felt like he should go to the arena. When he entered the building, everybody was watching him. Luke came first toward him, and Percy saw he wanted a challenge… and some recognition.

"Why don't we make a deal, Luke? You beat me in a dual, and I talk to your father about how skilled you are."

"Who are you?", asked Luke, a grin already on his face.

"Well, let's say I'm the third wheel of last mission."

Luke's eye widened, so Percy made his sword real, and prepared. Luke grin went further. Annabeth was coming to train, but when she heard about the challenge the ''weird newbie '' made, she sat and watched. Two of the best swordsmen she knew would be fighting.

"No powers", they said both at the same time.

Then, the fight began. Luke and Percy were using their best, and Percy was losing. Or that's what an unexperimented eye would see. In fact, Luke was using all his strongest techniques, and none of them were working. Percy, however, just defended himself.

PJ's eyes went flaming with more power when he attacked. Nobody understood what was happening. The sword was seemingly flying, and when it stopped, about three seconds later, the sword was under Luke's throat.

"Dead", said Percy coldly. He then grinned, made his sword disappear, and said "well, you're a worthy opponent, just act less by techniques, and more by instincts".

Percy then left, and, as he saw an empty spot somewhere in the camp, he wondered if anybody considered it as home. When he stopped on them, he sat, and meditated.

Annabeth was behind him, wanting to have him on her team of war games, but the only thig she got was the temple of Hestia building itself out of nowhere. Stones where appearing out of fire, and soon, the temple was finished. A blue wave of energy came from it, and it seemed to stop at the limits of camp. PJ was settling inside, so she knocked.

"Knocking is useless, Annabeth, I know where you are, and I know you watched me the whole time."

Annabeth blushed lightly, probably too lightly for Percy to notice, and said.

"I want you in my team at capture the flag".

PJ thought about it. He knew capture the flag were generally happening in outdoors, in the forests, and at night. He wanted to ask if Olympians would be watching, but that would have been pointless. He agreed, and they both headed to lunch.

At lunch, Percy was having a bad time. Ares' children were knowing Luke's defeat, and everybody wanted to fight him. And PJ had the bad idea of saying he would be in Athena's team in capture the flag tomorrow. He also received challenges in various domains, such as archery (denied, he knew his talent), gardening (why, Demeter, why!), sword fighting, climbing, and kayak. Surprisingly, he found out he was pretty good at the last one, and that raised more questions about his 0link to Poseidon in his head.

When he headed back home, Skià was waiting for him.

"Sup, newbie", said the said intruder, mimicking Ares' children, "need a help?"

PJ thought about it. Like, really. Skià was the only part of him that was free to use his power, so Olympians would have guessed the shadow boy would leave in the underground, wouldn't they?

"Go home, and ask them about P", said Percy, finally. Skià nodded, and he soon left.

When PJ turned around, the head of Aphrodite's children was standing.

"So", she began, "what is between you and the shadow boy?"

"Skià. His name is Skià. And I don't know what you mean… Oh wait, I guess, I know, but you are wrong like you've never been. So, Silena (can I call you that? Annabeth does…), don't jump to conclusions. He's like a brother to me."

They both heard the shadows chuckles around them, and Percy sighed.

"Well", said Skià to Silena, "if you want to ask some questions, you can. And we're more like friends than brothers, even if…"

"Don't", cut PJ.

"Well, so, did the other campers send you here to know about the newbie here and his protector?"

"Yes, and, no offense, but… what are you?"

"That's a good question! I'm a spirit. See, even our friend here didn't ask" said Skià while pointing PJ, "I guess you could say I'm some kind of monster… but I don't eat demigods, I protect them. Well, the most powerful to me"

"So, the son of Hestia is powerful?", asked Silena, immediately answered by Skià. "The most yet. Ad this won't change anytime soon, even with both our casino friends", he said while smirking to PJ.

That made the Hestia's son thoughtful. He knew he was powerful… but the most powerful yet? Was it because of his double nature?

The prolonged appearance of Skià was beginning to weaken him, and the toll was unbearable. As soon as PJ touched the ground, flamed came from the hearth, and protected him. Skià saluted, and left.

Percy was dreaming. Standing right in front of him was some kind of jar, an old one. Inside was something really weakened. A powerful being was holding it, and said:

"Master will love to see what I found."

Suddenly, the thing inside spoke to him. "Find me."

And it continued, saying it in a begging time loop.

It made no sense. Nor did the two golden eyes watching him from the void, nor did the powerful voice that said, "Who are you?"

Percy was able to see what this soul desired, even if most of it was still somewhere else.

The soul wanted its power back, and it was ready to turn the whole world into ashes for that. It all clicked together, in the worst way. Percy was facing the lord of time, king of titans, his step brother, Chronos.

A being way more powerful than him. And it was escaping Tartarus way too fast. It was unbearable.

But Percy felt Ok, the being in the jar was keeping him sane, somehow. Prometheus (yes, it was him), felt the fight of will too. But for him, the spirit in the jar, the last one, was fighting to live.

Boy was he wrong.

Finally, the dream ended, as someone was entering the temple newly built.

Annabeth was shocked by the speed her life was endangered with a sword that didn't exist hold by someone which was sleeping two seconds ago. She really needed PJ in capture the flag.

"Calm down, PJ, I'm only here to see if you feel well."

"Whatever did Silena told you, it's false. I didn't faint, I simply needed to sleep."

"So, you fainted in front of Silena. Can I ask why?"

"I didn't! It's just… Skià is so tiring."

"Skià? Oh, your shadow buddy? What's between you two?"

"Oh my gods, am I ever going to be let alone? There is nothing between us, except friendship…"

"That means he's bossing me around.", said a voice behind them.

"So, _boss_ ", began Skià with irony in his voice, "I asked who you know, and they said you needed to talk to them directly. I said I was your messenger, so they confirmed what P said. You've won a dad!"

Annabeth didn't' got half of what Skià said, but understood that Percy had found his dad.

"So", said Athena's child, "who is your dad?"

"The worst possibility for a child of Hestia. Come on! We need to prepare for capture the flag!"

"It begins in twelve hours, PJ!"

Skià disappeared, as he understood that he wasn't the center of the attention anymore. PJ would need all of his energy.

* * *

On Olympus, some of the present gods were looking at the young demigod, because his scent just increased out of nowhere. It was already stronger than a child of the big three, but now, it was like the entire camp's scent was in this boy.

Hestia was worried. She would need a privete chat with her chapion soon.

* * *

In his castle, Hades decided to make his children go out of the Casino, as soon as PJ would be free of a quest. The god was somehow sure of one thing: this demigod would protect them.

But for now, they needed to go to school to readapt to this timeline. So he called one of his monsters.

"How good are you at acting?"

"Quite good, my lord. Can I ask you why?"

"How about a play? You'll be a lawyer!"

* * *

As Chiron finished explaining the rules of capture the flag, everybody looked at the newbie who just built a temple and didn't even mixed with others. Silena was silent, so to everybody, his identity was a mystery.

Luke was happy Annabeth managed to have him in their team. But when she said that Percy would go first to take the flag, his grin became a grimace.

Everybody always used to look up to him, as he was the best swordsman, but now… This child was replacing him.

Some said he had a ghost buddy, that helped him defeat Ares. Luke knew that. But he didn't understood how PJ was unknown even to his master. Hell, Luke even had to stay longer in camp to get information on this demigod! And yet, he knew nothing.

Luke managed to hide his feelings. His shoes were still in Grover's foots, but it had been obvious the wings were cut. He didn't ask why.

Percy led the charge, and looked back. Everyone was way behind him. So, he decided to move faster. Faster. He didn't understand why everything was so slow, but when he saw a bird fly, he understood. He was going fast, very fast. The bird wasn't really moving to him.

He needed twelve seconds to get to the flags, twenty-three to defeat the demigods without killing them, and everything seemed slow to him. When he took the flag, he felt the pressure of air, and it was strong. He managed to get the flag back in fifty seconds.

He paused as he saw everything immobile, and threw the flag on the other side of the river. He had officially won. He still had to understand what the fuck was happening in here.

When Luke began to move, he felt magic coming from the child of Hermes. And the feeling was like… Chronos'. Well, the titan had found a champion.

"You are the traitor. You're on Kronos' side", said Percy, truly disappointed.

Luke applauded sarcastically, and threw a scorpion on him.

"Don't move, or the scorpion bit you… earlier than needed. It would be sad for you to die earlier than needed, wouldn't it? Now, I'm going to live this camp, and to let it defenseless. Lord Chronos will then have a highway to kill all the Olympians, and I will make my father pay!"

Percy mentally face-palmed. It was obvious. Kronos was rising because of demigods that started to be loyal to him.

The scorpion then bit PJ. And the world became over-colored.

The poison was in his veins, running in his blood, and he felt amazing. It was night, but he saw like you see in days. He could nearly hear all of his friends' heartbeats.

Time had gone back at normal speed. And, what a surprise, they were all shocked to see Luke missing, Percy with a Tartarus monster poisoning him and feeling great.

And then Percy felt someone on the hill that had the same poison. And Luke was approaching the newbuild temple.

When Luke tried to attack it, he was surprised by a PJ blocking his double blade.

So, Luke asked his master to save his life. And his master agreed.

Luke vanished into nothingness.

* * *

 _That was a chapter a bit longer than the previous ones, and I hope you don't mind. So, next weak, we'll have a week chapter as it will start the book two. Unless it's the opposite? Anyway! Bye!_


	7. Chasing the golden carpet

_So, last time was a big chapter (at my scale). Just… don't be disappointed if I give you less this time! I hope I don't feel deceived or anything, and enjoy!_

Thalia's tree was out. That meant the temple was the last colony defense, for… some reason? Well, Zeus had the good idea to merge his daughter with the defense of the colony? Well, bad idea.

Summer ended, and Percy said he would stay at camp, excepted during the holiday. That was a first, but like Skià said: "the fact it's a first for you isn't a first".

PJ trained a lot with Skià, who was slowly opening to the demigods around them. PJ was still not that much a social person, and just stayed with the quest group. Grover was negotiating his right to become a seeker, since his quest would have been a failure without PJ or Skià.

One day, PJ was called by Chiron for a meeting to discuss the prophecy.

"Well, there is still one thing that bugs me, as you say, Clarisse, it's the part of three coming back.", continued Chiron, and everyone nodded. Skià spontaneously appeared, and spooked out Chiron (which was a first too).

"Speaking of me?", said the shadow.

PJ sighed. It was hopeless, they will finish by discovering it, and Skià was still wanted on Olympus, so Mr. D. tried to catch him in vines. As ever, when the vines touched him, they died, as if the boy was poisonous. And if they discovered the truth, well… Olympus generally didn't like powerful people alive.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Who is the third one that came back, is it you, or is it PJ?"

Skià's eyes became pink out of surprise. That made Annabeth chuckles.

"Well," began the shadow, looking at PJ…

"I/He came in and invited him/me" said both mystery at the same time.

Annabeth was now fully laughing, so did the half of the counselors. Skià's eyes went back to a dark Purple with no iris.

PJ's eyes became to flame with more power.

"Excuse me, but I have to leave, there are monsters at the frontier of the camp, and It's tapping into the temple energy.", said Percy, as Skià went back into a listening shadow.

Percy fought these monsters hard, without his sword, to blow off some steam. It felt great, but mostly awkward as he saw some girls and boys from Aphrodite's cabin watching him like he was a candy.

So, he left back to the temple, whose flame was still burning with energy. He sat before the altar, and began to pray his adoptive mother. Apparently the second one.

During the first few months, the situation was normal. Everybody was happy, Percy was going back to Tartarus with his adoptive parents, then came back at every vacation, gods were wondering how he disappeared from their view, and monsters couldn't get through the barrier.

It last ten months. When they were eating, the 31st May, monsters broke the barrier for the first time. Hestia's temple then gt flooded with people praying the goddess to protect them, and everything was back to normal. Except Thalia's tree was dying, so did the camp's natural protection. And Hestia's barrier would be enough only if there were more campers staying in winter.

Zeus himself required a quest, when Chiron asked him what to do. They had to find the Golden Fleece, as it may be their only option to save Thalia's tree.

Clarisse was selected during one of the counselors' council. Of course, Annabeth volunteered herself and PJ, but Chiron said he needed them both for helping making defenses. But when the oracle spoke, nobody expected that:

You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,

You shall find what you seek and make it your own,

But despair for your life entombed within stone,

And fail without friends, to fly home alone.

So, when Percy came back to the temple, he wasn't waiting for Annabeth, nor Grover.

"You know I can feel everybody near the temple?", asked PJ while closing the backdoor.

"We need your help.", began Annabeth, "You heard the prophecy. Clarisse will need our help."

Percy sat down in front of his two friends. So did they. PJ sighed, and made tea appear around the table.

"I don't think you can be considered as Clarisse's friend. You two hate each other.", began PJ, earning a glare from Annabeth, "but as long as it is to protect the camp my mother sent me in, count me in!"

Annabeth drank her tea. It was an ambrosia drink, with just enough ambrosia for you to get the taste.

"If we must go, we should as well have a plan", began Annabeth, "and I still don't know where the Fleece can be… Do you have any ideas?"

Percy thought about it. The Fleece was strong, of course, but if his theory was correct, then…

"Grover, where do all the satyrs smell Pan?"

"What?", asked Grover, not understanding.

"Well, the Fleece and Pan have an aura identical, so, since nobody localized Pan, if a lot of satyrs followed a track, it must lead to what we're looking for."

Annabeth nodded. That was logical. Grover tried to think about it a lot, but he had no idea. None of the satyrs that went seeking revealed where they thought Pan was.

"Well, Grover, don't worry, if you don't remember, we could still use Skià. I'm sure he'll know where…"

"Monster sea, in front of Polyphemus door.", said the shadow, cutting PJ.

Skià then went back into a listening shadow, and PJ and Annabeth finished to plan everything. They had to find a boat. They wouldn't need to bring much food, just enough to survive if Percy was out.

Finally, Skià said he knew of a boat, named princess Andromeda, which would be going in the general direction. So, they had a plan!

Princess Andromeda's departure was in New York, not far enough to be a serious problem. Once they would be in the Bermuda's triangle, they just had to let go, steal a lifeboat, and use the mist to protect themselves.

It won't be as easy, of course, but it will be the easiest way to enter the Sea of Monsters.

They hoped to get Circe's help once they could get on her island, and for Scylla… Well… let's hope she doesn't like fire, nor fire shields.

That plan was filled with holes, but PJ and Skià were real assets for improvisation, so the only one worried was Grover, and he would be worried for anything.

They set their meeting on the beach at 10pm, just after the Harpies began to look for demigods to eat.

And here they were: 10pm, beach, harpies quite far, of so they thought.

The harpies were just behind them, and they interrupted the meeting by saying: "Well well well… If this isn't a meal for us, foolish demigods!"

And that's when everything went wrong. PJ forgot to ask Skià for help, and just glanced at the harpies. The monsters began to cry in pain, as their body slowly fell into holes that led directly to Tartarus. Once the monsters disappeared, so did the gaps. Of course, the protectors of the colony had tried to fly, but it looked like they were eaten by the holes, attracted by them.

"What the heck just happened, PJ?" asked Grover.

"I… I lost control", answered a panting Percy.

He closed his eyes to make sure his friends wouldn't see his purple irises, but the light coming from them crossed the eyelids, and that was painful. Sand gathered around PJ's legs, like willing to freeze him, and water was moving irrationally around them.

Then, all went dark, and they were in front of the Princess Andromeda.

When they looked at each other, their faces had change, and PJ's eyes were now a dark black.

But that isn't what shocked them most. Luke was here, on the boat, loading a golden sarcophagus which irradiated of power. Around it, time seemed to bend, and Percy and Annabeth said together

"Kronos."

Grover let out a squeak, that did go unnoticed, and a monster began to look at them. Then it looked somewhere else. That's how Grover understood that they were invisible to most of this ship creatures. When he finished explaining, PJ let out a "thanks, Nyx", that made Annabeth eyebrows looks like elevators for a second.

When they went on the bridge, they had a lot of time to kill (that mad Annabeth laugh a lot when Percy said it), so Percy summoned a deck of playing cards from the temple, and they played tarot.

It didn't kill Kronos, but it did kill their boredom, and they waited for the departure as light hearted as you can be with an army of monster at three meters on the right.

When lunchtime came, they heard Kronos laugh in their ears, but they decided to act like if nothing happened. They didn't look the same, so why bother?

"Oh gods", said suddenly Annabeth, "I know why they will enter the Sea of Monsters. The same as us"

"They won't want to get the golden…" began Grover, cut by Percy saying "carpet. Golden carpet. We don't know who can hear us."

"Yes, they do."

"Well, if you could now say the holly triangle instead of the you know what sea, it would be less… how to say? Yeah! Obvious! We are here, but I remind you that ''here '' is an enemy ship".

The two others nodded, and they began another game of tarot. When they saw the rock which held Scylla, and PJ saw a tooth of Chabrid, they cut the few ropes holding the life boat. Percy then focused on the mist hoping no mortal would throw himself in the sea to take a non-existent lifeboat, as he managed to create his illusion, and make it monster-proof (with way too much mist).

They left unnoticed, alike when they entered. What didn't go unnoticed, however, was the fire shield that held the dragon far from the boat. Annabeth ang Grover were rowing, and they passed the dangers. When they were out of reach, Percy throw the giant shield that became a fire ball, and hurt the monster enough to kill it (not for long, but, still… victory!).

Princess Andromeda started to shoot different magic spells, fireballs, bullets, and weapons in general, it became nearly impossible for them to miss the little boat. But they did. Waves were deflecting the weapons too low, and the island, the rock was defending from the weapons too high.

For a moment, the demigods, and the monsters, knew they were protected by something way stronger than them. They kept rowing, as fast and as strong as they could, when Percy had an idea:

"What if I build a reactor to push this boat."

"H-How would you do that?", asked Grover, understandably suspicious.

"If I make a fire hot enough following us, air will expand, and we'll go forward."

"Won't we get burnt?", asked a worried Annabeth.

"Not if you cover yourselves with water regularly, and if I absorb most of the heatwave."

And so, they got a new locomotion system. They used some plastic tarpaulin as a sail. Grover got quickly sea-sick, due to the movement quite… jerky?

Annabeth didn't puke until they saw Circe's island.

It looked like a SPA, and they were welcomed by a girl called Reyna.

"Ms. C. will welcome you for your make-up in no time, please wait!"

When she left, Grover let out a groan and said, "it smells like magic…".

"Please tell me Circe don't have back her bad habits."

"What bad habits?" asked a female's voice behind them. That caused them to jump. Circe was behind them.

"Oh no she still does it…", said Percy.

"How do you know?"

"She's thinking about making an exception for Grover. Just turning him in a donkey."

"Well, if this isn't the well-known son of Hestia. What can I do for you?"

"I know you're trying to help these girls, but changing me or my friend on any animal won't change anything. Please not a rabbit… Just… We just want to borrow the boat in your docks, no heal, no shower, no look upgrade, no massage, just the boat, please."

"You remember me of Ulysses, _boy_. Always trying to leave."

"I would prefer to be Orpheus, but why not? So, does that mean we can leave?"

"No."

"It would have been too easy.", said Grover, without hope.

"Yes, it would.", said Annabeth.

"Call Skià?" asked Grover.

"I don't want to make her fade!", said Percy, and that made Circe's perfect skin to become white. Well, more than Hades'. She heard about Ares', that it took him six months to go back to normal, and… well, Percy hoped she would fear him enough.

"Can we leave, now?", asked Percy with a dangerous tone.

Circe quickly nodded. The boy was a monster.

 _I still have to tell you about Chronos/Kronos. I will use both_. _Why? Because I'm lazy!_


	8. Percy lose his cool

The ship's name was Queen Anne's revenge. And it was a pirate ship. Yup. A pirate ship!

This was one of the coolest thing happening to Percy. Except saving the world. And being a threat to gods. And living in what's considered as hell _in_ hell. And beating a god until it fears you. And building a temple in a day. And saving his friends' lives… many times… And having a secret identity.

Well, ok. Percy's life is cool. But that was easily in the top 5… or the top 10… rather 20. Yes, it was in the top 20!

He was playing at captain. And he was good at this game!

He felt the whole boat as if it was his own body, he had a total control over the sails, total control over the seas. This thing was a complete machinery, and Percy was the last ingredient. He knew where he was, where to go, what amount of water was under them (956 meters, decreasing quickly).

And he knew what was the island they didn't see now.

"We are going to meet the sirens, alright! Close your ears with something!"

"Nope", said an invisible Annabeth, "I want to hear it. Just… just tie me, like Ulysses."

"Are you sure", said Grover, "I heard it's incredibly hard to stay in place."

"Just tie me harder, then.", answered Annabeth. "it's said to make you wiser and more self-aware to hear their chant. I… I need to…"

"Ok", said PJ, as ropes immediately flew to an amazed Annabeth, and tied her to the ship.

Grover then gave him a little ball of wax, and they both put that in their ears. Then Grover, fearing for his life, got in the captain's office.

And during the first minutes, nothing happened. Then the ship began to vibrate. Percy felt the sound, making the planks move slightly. He felt it, but didn't hear it. Then he felt something else. Annabeth. Sure, she was tied up, but the ropes quickly began to slip. PJ watched his friend cry, shout and scream of pure disappointment. He saw her vocal cords making her throat tremble with anger.

He didn't need to hear anything to know what she was saying. He didn't need anything to know that Annabeth hated him, right now.

"How could you do this to me! I thought we were friends! I thought you wouldn't betray me like Luke did. You've always been a liar, a traitor, and we all know you feel too superior to deign tell us what is happening around you. Just let me go! I want nothing to do with you!"

A tear appeared in PJ's right eye. As he wiped it out, he restrained his friend harder and harder, until he felt her begin to faint. He didn't give her any liberty.

Sirens then looked at him in fear. He felt his aura beginning to grow. He felt his power beginning to go out from his grip. He felt every shadow, every droplet of water, every piece of rock. Every feeling too.

Then he felt Grover watching in fear the oceans rise, and Percy took the control back. He made air exploded, and propelled the boat quickly out of the curse island range. He barely dodged some rocks, and managed to make the sirens go away.

As soon as the last one was out of view, he felt to his knees, and the ropes again Annabeth fell.

Everything after began to be blurry. Annabeth was holding him, her body still aching. Of course, she expected hallucinations, but she saw the sea attacking sirens. She saw pure elemental power, and… a broken Percy.

She had said really mean things, and she hoped he could forgive her… but none of it was false. It was in her, since the beginning, waiting like lava under a volcano to erupt, to go and burn everything, to create earthquakes in the deadliest firework.

Her head was still hot from the experience, like if she was given too much information to deal with at once. Because that's exactly how the sirens confuse you. They don't make your mind blank. They don't erase you.

They bring you way too high, they give you every knowledge you might want, and promise you more. And once your addicted too this feeling, you know where to swim, where to go to have more. You know you have basically no chance to escape, no chance to achieve this knowledge.

But, when they sing it, it doesn't matter. How worthy is a life where you don't have this? Who would deserve to live their complete lives in the dark, without seeing the true face of the world?

For one minute, Annabeth saw it. For one minute, Annabeth was connected to everything, and she had understood how little they mattered, how little they were against the universe.

She saw her fatal flaw, the fatal flaw of every descendant of Mnemosyne. Hubris. When you have that much information, you feel like you own it. So, you feel superior to it. And once you feel superior to it, you begin slowly to feel superior to everybody.

Maybe Percy wasn't the only one broken after all.

It took a moment for Grover to live the safety of the office. It took longer for PJ to make a complete sentence. And Grover was happy, when he saw them, broken, that he didn't build any empathic link with any of them.

He took commands of the ship.

The first sentence Percy managed to say was: "I have to leave".

Then Percy called Skià, and they both disappeared. The look Skià gave to Annabeth was pure interrogation.

And the next few hours were calm. Then night fell on earth. Then the sea lost her colors, and Annabeth saw some light while looking down. It was oceanic life, creatures from the deepest holes in sea coming out at night to shine.

"So, what did happen", said Grover, as he sat near Annabeth.

"I… I think I broke him, Grover. If you saw that look. It was like a fire you extinguish, you know?"

Grover nodded. He didn't need any link of any kind to understand what Annabeth was feeling. Pure guilt. He gave her a blanket, and they fell asleep while watching the sea.

* * *

On Olympus, Zeus was asking some of his councilor how the young demigod had this much power. Imagine, power over the water, and everything around them.

When he found Hestia, she looked very worried for her _son_ , which was understandable. The last time they saw such a desperate show of power, it was when Heracles killed all his family. And Zeus' wife swore she didn't do anything, this time.

Ares' look began once again to be lost into the darkness of nothingness, as if he was waiting for his death. And, like said Apollon in one of his unbearable haikus:

When your god of war

Is fearing droplets of blood

Fear the demigods

"What happened with your adopted son, Hestia?", asked the king of gods calmly.

"Well, you see…", began Hestia, only to be cut by Skià, which just appeared.

"He had controlled over the boat since it was home for the previous pirates, and expended it slightly due to pain", said the shadow even if Zeus was trying to catch him with winds.

Oh, that reminds me. Kids, if you ever try to catch a monster made from shadows, **don't** do it with **air**. It **never** works. Can't tell I didn't warn ya!

Skià disappeared, letting a worried Hestia, and an ashamed Zeus (only because catching a shadow with air is futile, not because he had any **regrets** …).

It took two weeks for Percy to fully recover with his family in the pit.

Hestia's power was to blame for that. The pit thing, not the length. Even if the temple was officially his home, well… Tartarus was the place he felt _at_ home. And his father, so… that's weird! Hey nobody complains about a son of Zeus flying, or a son of Poseidon in the sea…

* * *

Percy took this time out of time to deal with his parental problems. He understood they never told him about him being adopted, but would have loved to know his oceanic nature. He took this time to go play a bit with Cerberus, to keep Scylla dead a bit longer, and to practice his shadow form. He began to experience a link. Some kind of telepathic connection with Skià. It had always been there, but until now, none of them took time to practice it. Skià had already given a pretty convincing explanation to Olympus, Zeus had made a fool of himself, so, everything was good.

Percy spend time with Nyx too, even if she was mostly out for all his recovery, and met officially the five rivers of Hell.

Of course, Sty was the most outgoing, since Lethe had problems to keep a conversation, even if she still had Poseidon suspicions in her.

When Percy felt like he was full again, like he was ready to fight once more, he left the pit by shadow traveling to the boat.

* * *

Dawn was waking up.

And at the horizon, you could see Polyphemus island.

Grover and Annabeth had the surprise of their life when they woke up and found out that Percy was now happy go lucky and on the boat.

"Well, let's say I had a full night rest!", said the demigod, with a smile.

Annabeth hugged him, and that surprised him.

"Wow, calm down, wise head! I won't flee, don't worry!"

"Were did Skià sent you?", asked Grover, interested.

"Well, on the only place that could fully regenerate me: home"

"Where's your home again?", asked Annabeth, once she broke the hug.

"A place where people can live out of Olympus' reach, and until they can't hear us, I'll keep that a secret."

"Who would want to live out of Olympus reach?", asked Grover, worried.

"Well, to tell you the most known, I think Calypso and all of the others peaceful titans would, and the last free ones will like to stay in this state."

"So, you know some titans?", asked Annabeth.

"Not personally, no. But the titans are far from being alone in this case, you know!"

"Who else…" began Annabeth begun, interrupted by Percy:

"Olympians watching, now!"

A rainbow then appeared in front of them. Chiron was on the other side.

"Percy, were have you been! The colony frontiers are practically entirely disabled!"

"Well, you know the prophecy about the golden Fleece? Let's say I helped. And for the defenses, yeah, I was out of reach, so of course they deactivated. They should be back, now!"

Chiron eye-widened, as Skià appeared, followed by a big storm.

"Hey, PJ, my friend! Could you please help me to stop having storms trying to catch me? That's really annoying! And I could use some help to make Zeus a fool once again!"

They both laughed, until Skià was hit by a lightning. That didn't hurt him (as he retreated behind rocks), but that cut the discussion.

"Well, looks like Skià is enjoying life, or death… Can't really tell?" said Grover

"How did he make Zeus a ''fool '', as he said?", asked Annabeth watching carefully to the sky.

"Zeus tried to catch him"

"Oh."

"With air!", said Percy before laughing, alone.

Both of his friends were curious to understand how that could be funny…

"It's like if Artemis tried to shoot me with an arrow made of metal!", said Percy laughing more and more.

It was good to have him back.

* * *

 _Hey, so… here comes a chapter slightly shorter than usually. If I follow my planning, we should be near mid-December, so merry Christmas with +/- 2 weeks! Maybe 3... or 4. Argh! help me! I can't stop!  
_


	9. How to train your pirate ship

_Maybe happy new year? I DON'T KNOW! Anyway. Yes,_ The Sea of Monsters _had been done quickly, as it's the last chapter that really is in this book's plot, but if you remember, that book was one of the shortest we ever had, so I expect to be able to put at least one more chapter by plot in the next ones. Anyway, enjoy!_

It took Percy a long time to stop laughing, but when he did, their destination wasn't far. They had to defeat Polyphemus, and take the Fleece. Once they were near enough of the island, Percy launched ropes to keep the ship near, and get down with his friends. The grass around them was one of the neatest they ever saw.

On one tree was simply hanging the Fleece.

They took some minutes to plan.

"And I go invisible, take the Fleece and run, when you make the boat leave."

"Er… Annabeth? Good strat, but he is basically blind, so… better make it something he can't smell that something he can't see.", said Percy, with a nod of Grover.

"What if we send PJ as a distraction with his super scent, while we get the Fleece to ourselves".

"It might work", said Percy as Annabeth eye-widened.

"You're not going to fight Polyphemus in one v one, right?"

"I will", said Percy.

Then, before anybody could stop him, he started running.

"Does he know that these sheep eat flesh? "asked Grover as Annabeth's skin went a little paler.

Percy was running like a demon, dodging every hit the monsters made. He spent more of this time in air than touching ground, and to newbies he seemed to kill himself. But soon, he had attracted all of the livestock around the Fleece far from it.

He then ran faster at Polyphemus' entrance, and managed to wake the monster up.

During this time, Annabeth was slowly approaching the Fleece's tree, and finally… took it!

She then ran in direction of the beach, and propelled the fleece on the ship, were it was caught by Grover… before Queen Anne's revenge exploded, launching Grover, still holding the Fleece on the beach.

Not so far was Clarisse, on her boat, holding a field-glass.

"Hey duchebags, you wanted to steal my quest?"

Then a rock flew. It didn't land far from Ares' daughter's boat, with an enormous splash. The warship swayed.

On the island, everybody could see the central mountain, the home of Polyphemus crushing something.

"Well", began Percy, "since you don't welcome new people, but you eat them… Olympus isn't watching in here, right?"

The cyclops hit not far away of Percy, and then propelled his door that went flying in the sea.

"No, bad Polyphemus!", said Percy, as earth power activated.

He had a complete mountain to help him, right? Well, unless at this height it was called a hill, but still. He had some **power** not far.

And he didn't need Skià this time. Polyphemus cave went flying right into him, and every rock went crushing the cyclops, that gave his last breath to murmur a malediction.

Then, under all that stone, something blew up in golden dust. The bane of Ulysses' crew was no more. Well, except Poseidon killed a bunch of them too… that doesn't matter.

What did matter, was that the panting Percy saw his ship blown up. Far away he could see another one, made of steel. He didn't need his powers to know what demigod was on it.

"Clariisse!"

He then took a canon bullet.

When Annabeth saw PJ, the first thing she noticed were the light in his eyes. Burning with rage.

He shouted something, but the wind took the meaning for itself. A canon exploded, and a bullet hit PJ. And the bullet exploded.

Clarisse then took her time to approach carefully the beach. She made Annabeth and Grover come onboard. When the ship's engine started, it didn't go forward.

Nor backward. All the campers, and most of the skeletons watched the water becoming here flames, here shadows, here nothingness. Gravity lost meaning, at first. Then logic.

The skeletons became purple, and lost any kind of form. They were just dark purple slimes, barely human looking. The ship began to float on air, and a being was on it. It looked as Skià, but…

The burning shadow looked more like a monster than a human. Well, it always did, but now it was more than usual.

Obsidian appeared, and began to circle the warship. When it was all around the ship, it lit up in a dark purple light.

Annabeth gasped as Skià said "Where is he?"

Clarisse moved backward. No, her father wasn't a crybaby. He just saw true rage, and power far beyond what hell could manage to give.

Olympus lost contact.

Tartarus gained it. For five minutes, the pit was on earth, in the east of the USA, not far from where PJ had died.

For five minutes, Chronos lost all his powers, and Hades' went superior to any god in the council Even Zeus.

For five minutes, Zeus' lightning bolt became useless. So did Poseidon's trident.

When Annabeth touched the stone, green light began to radiate from it. Shadows began to look at her. They circled her, and when they were just at a few inches…

Everything stopped.

The warships engine was dead, but sea made them go to Miami. It was as if a stream appeared out f nowhere to push them.

PJ was nowhere to be seen. Annabeth gave Clarisse some money.

"What are you doing?" asked the afraid fearless warrior.

"That should be enough for you to take a flight to New York. Without PJ around, defenses are going to be once more down, and you must fulfil the prophecy."

Grover nodded, so Clarisse took the money and let a simple "thanks".

She then asked a taxi to send her to the airport, and both Grover and Annabeth sat on the sand of the beach where the CSS Birmingham did stop. Mortals were coming to see the old boat, as if it was some kind of museum.

"Do you think he is…", began Grover

"Dead? No… not really, I can feel in my guts that he isn't".

"Me two", said a voice behind them.

When they turned, Skià sat with them.

"I'm sorry for what happened, I lost control."

"That's funny, PJ said that one time.", said Grover.

"That's what happen when you have too much powers.", sighed Skià, before saying out loud, "You know I'm wanted on Olympus, right?"

"Oh. Well, we're not on a quest to catch you, so…", began Annabeth. Of course, this one would be wanted on Olympus.

They then heard a flash, the two. Then too much to count.

"Skià, on order of Olympus, I'm here to stop you", began Apollo without energy.

"You have proven yourself to be a threat to us,", continued Athena.

"So, we're going to put you on trial."

Annabeth tried to protect him, but he teleported himself between her and the ten gods watching. Zeus and Poseidon were not here, of course.

"Well, Olympians, lead the way."

They then flashed out, with Skià. Annabeth knew that meant death for a second friend today. She refused to cry.

Skià was chained in the center of the throne room.

"Swear on the Styx that all you're going to say is true.", said Hera.

"I swear it", said Skià as thunder marked the oath.

"Who are your immortal parent", asked Artemis.

"I won't say it. You are a threat to them more than I'm a threat to you."

"We accuse you to be a threat to Olympus, and to be too powerful.", began Athena, "how do you defend yourself?"

"I don't", said Skià in a taunt.

"You don't have anything to say to remain alive?", asked a worried Zeus.

"Well, who said I'm alive?"

"Stop messing with us, _boy_ …", began Artemis.

"I'm no _boy_ , Artemis", cut Skià, "what I am will remain a mystery for now, but try to kill me; it won't work."

"Is this a threat?", said Poseidon.

"It's a promise. You can't kill me like this. But ask your puny god of war, I can make you fade forever".

"So, what is your bargain?", asked Demeter.

"Well, that's easy: leave me alone, I fight for you in the coming war against Kronos. Or you try to kill me and I let you lose."

Chaos followed this statement.

"SILENCE", shouted Zeus. "We shall now vote: who wants to keep this threat alive?"

Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Demeter, Ares, and Hera raised their hand.

All of the others kept it down.

"That's the problem with being twelve. It's a tie.", said Skià, before continuing "but you have a thirteen god in the underground, since Hestia won't interfere of course, and I'm sure He's with me".

Chains then phased through the shadow's body, as he stood up.

"Do you want me to go look for him? Or can I go look for the _boy_ that ended a war last year before it even began", said Skià sarcastically, looking at Artemis and Zeus.

Some gods gasped, Apollo laughed, not stopping when he earned a glare from everybody else (except Skià, of course).

"You can leave, now", began Zeus, "but shall you ever betray us, we will care personally you go in the worst place of Tartarus."

That made Skià laugh. A true laugh, like if this was a good joke for his twisted sense of humor.

"You've never been in Tartarus, Zeus, and you won't start tomorrow.", said Skià while a hole leading right into Tartarus formed in the center of the council room formed.

"I have", said the shadow as it jumped right into it.

The interstice then disappeared as if nothing happened.

When hell is the home of someone, what punishment can you promise?

PJ was still on the island. He sat on the beach, and used the time Skià gave him by focusing Olympus' attention to bring Queen Anne's revenge back in the game. The boat was complete when Skià suddenly stood up, phasing threw the chains.

Percy then used his powers to manipulate the boat, to get him back in the sea. It took him several hours, and Olympus was once more watching. That was fine with him. He didn't need much power anyway, and the pirate ship was once more in its element. So was Percy. He didn't know yet what he wanted to do, it was really soon to come back home, and he didn't really want to come back to camp.

Queen Anne's revenge answered his desire as the cap was set to the unknown.

Camp learnt PJ's supposed death by Clarisse, and Skià's by Annabeth.

Clarisse couldn't help but feel better when she heard that this atrocity was dead. As she said that, shadows bent behind her, and the said atrocity replied

"Well, Clarisse, you know a puny lightning bolt isn't enough to kill me. Always confirm your kills, daughter of war."

Everybody laughed, and Annabeth just got grounded, not eaten, as one of her best friend just got killed.

Not two.

What surprised everybody (excepted Skià who asked, "wasn't it always the plan?"), the golden Fleece had some unexpected effects. Thalia was back, so was the great Prophecy.

Luke's boat was protected against Poseidon's magic. Not against phantom pirate ships, that shot you canon bullets whenever you tried to move too far from the coast.

Of course, Luke had some monsters that shot the damn boat, but it was proven useless when the bullets (or spells from the empousaïs, or fire balls) just stopped mid-air and suddenly went flying back in your face. Yes, it was really aiming for the faces.

Chronos was now chatting with Oceanus to wipe that problem, but the sea titan didn't found it. It was like if the boat teleported.

One day, however, some of his monsters found the name of this insane ship.

"Queen Anne's revenge?", said Luke, shocked, "b…but that ship is… destroyed, and the captain is… dead!"

And suddenly, all the protection around the Princess Andromeda fell. Sea became a true hurricane, and all the monsters were on the bridge, trying to stop the water from going everywhere.

Chronos put the defenses back, but half of Luke's army was dead.

In camp, some said they saw far from the beach a pirate ship, that disappeared quickly.

If Hestia's temple didn't activate at that time, nobody would have believed them.

Annabeth came up with an idea.

"Ok, Grover. I came up with an idea. It might be the best idea ever, or the worst idea ever… but!"

"it's an idea"

"It's an idea! What if the ship afar was PJ?"

"PJ is a boat?"

"No! PJ is on the boat! We could send him an IM to that that theory."

They tried. But Iris's voice just said, "PJ can't be found".

 _Hey, so yes, once again I ended the book too quickly, but I hope you still enjoy! Review so I know what you think about Percy being a… pirate. I mean, son of Poseidon: he must be a pirate!_


	10. How to make a rather uncommon friend

_Well, When I write that, I just published my very first chapter! (little tear of pride). BUT! This chapter will make the transition between book one and two. Don't expect it to be the longest one!_

* * *

Thalia was a bit spooked. Imagine: you let your friend, she's 7. You come back, and BAM! She is 13, she grieved you, your other best friend who you had a crush on is a traitor, and now Hestia is respected (that's soo spoky!), she had a son, who might have died, but nobody knows, who built a temple and you were a tree! A damn tree!

And in six months, you will end the world or save it, by dying, of course.

Apparently, camp now had a monster made out of shadows, way more powerful than she'll ever be not far, and whenever you talked about him he came.

And Ares became a coward.

And her father's mightiest weapon was stolen, then made useless for five minutes.

That's a lot to take.

She sat in the temple, and understood why it became so popular. It had an aura, an aura that made you feel like home. All the statues of Hestia seemed to smile at you gently, and when it was active you didn't have any nightmares, nor any problems with monsters.

And the temple was often active, because it just needed someone to come in it every day.

When she talked to the shadow, she was surprised to find it way better than any other monster.

"That's because I'm not exactly a monster."

Thalia was kind of surprised to hear the shadow answer her thoughts.

"You know, for a daughter of Zeus, you're alright?"

"Because you met a lot of daughter of Zeus?"

"Not many alive, no. But Your father tried to kill me. And to catch me, and then it became impossible for the others to live with when ten Olympians tried to stop me so I surrendered, and the rest is history."

"So why are you so friendly?"

"You're not your father, and You shouldn't even be considered as the same person than when you entered the tree."

"I didn't enter the tree, I turned into one."

"Oh. That explains a lot. You know, the son of Hestia, PJ…"

"Yeah?"

"He sensed you in that tree."

"He seems like a great guy."

"He is", said Skià with pain in his voice.

"Were you two together or something? As, romantically?"

Skià face-palmed, and that would have been less spooky if his hand didn't phase threw his face.

"We're like brothers, and the only physical link we share is his vital force."

"Oh, that's… great?"

"Yeah, it is.", said Skià in a depressed tone.

"So, why are you so down?"

"I don't know where he is, I don't even know if he's healthy or not, he just completely disappeared of the radar, you know? Normally, we should have a telepathic connection, but he's just… out of reach."

"What?"

"He doesn't like to be watched by the Olympians, he may be anywhere out of the sphere of control they have, now."

"Is that that bad?"

"To me, yes. Monsters in these sectors are far more powerful than here, you know?"

"Ow."

Skià then stood up and stretched a hand to help Thalia make the same thing.

Percy was on his boat. He was currently spending his energy to upgrade it, and to improve the magic of the ghost pirate ship appearance. As long as you were on it you couldn't be seen by anybody except if you wanted to. And that was amazing.

He had just been near a group of peaceful monsters that upgraded the hull with celestial bronze.

Percy had spent a long time looking for an enhancement that would make the ship able to go faster, or to teleport, and he had an idea.

The five rivers of hell, they are in Tartarus, right? And Tartarus is below everything in this world? So, what if his father blessed the ship along with the five-river's god or goddess?

Well, if he had the Acheron, he would of course have the Cocytus and Phlegeton's agreement, but having Styx's would be difficult, since she is supposed to destroy everything, or to make it invincible if it had an anchor.

Oh, that nearly sounded like a plan.

So, how to make a ghost pirate ship have an anchor in this world?

A very bad idea came into Percy's mind. First, he had to ask a permission, then his mother approval, and that's going to be hard enough.

He made the ship visible to Hestia, and began to prey.

"Hestia, I need an advice, can you please come?"

Hestia flashed on the bridge, and saw the demigod in a meditative state.

"What do you want, son?"

"Well, I need for a project to make this boat have a physical anchor, and the only physical anchor I can think of and control is…"

"My temple".

"You said it."

"What's your project?"

"I plan to make this boat invincible by bathing it in Styx."

Hestia stayed in awe. That was a first, but, once again, firsts were Percy normal days.

"Are you sure you don't need to go bac at home, to have a little sanity back?"

"I'm fine, Hestia. Really. I talked to mom about this, and she agreed with me. A warship is always something interesting. You know I really pissed Kronos with it, right?"

"Oh, so _you_ dropped the magic protections!"

"Yeah I did!"

"And aren't you going do need your mother's blessing if you're going to bath in this river?"

"I won't!" That's what awesome! The ship will be invincible, not me!"

"You sure Styx will appreciate?"

"Please, Hestia, you know me! I got you this temple in camp!"

"Ok, I give this boat access to my temple as his physical anchor!"

"Thanks!"

When Hestia left, Percy went back into the captain's office, and explained the whole thing to his dad, who gave Percy his blessing (and the boat), then Percy spoke to the five rivers, and Acheron found this to be a good idea! A while ago, Charon used to travel on him, you know, and being a river without any boat on you is… boring.

Lethe said she would give her blessing to the car, so Percy counted that as a yes.

Styx stared at him. "That's the part where I send Achilles to tell you this is a bad idea.", said the nymph.

"Well it certainly is one", said Tartarus, as Gaia began to hug him in protest (it is possible).

"But I give you my blessing… For both of your ideas"

When Percy came back on his ship, a new monitor was in the cabin, and it ad lever. Percy activated the lever.

He was now on the Styx, in Tartarus. The boat began to glow red and to gin heat. But it remained intact.

In camp, everybody was watching the glowing temple of Hestia. It glowed some blue light, like a star.

Skià said someone connected it to something in Tartarus, but nobody listened to him.

Neither did they found the map inscribed in the marble. A weird looking map with a little bronze piece that is currently out of the map.

A map that weirdly looked like earth.

And a piece of bronze that looked like a boat.

On Olympus, everybody was looking at the smile Hestia had when her temple gained some… brightness.

Chaos followed this situation. Everybody was speaking at the same time, just to become silent when a female voice went stronger than any other:

"AND DON'T CALL ME ARTY!"

Percy's war ship was now nearly complete. As one of his sanctuary, ha had gained a total control over the now invincible boat, that had a lot of magic protection. When he pulled the lever up, heat quickly left all the cabin. When he saw an iceberg, he understood he would have to train the teleportation in back in the overworld.

Percy then left the office, as the rudder made him go to the north. He was now leaving Antarctica's coast. As he entered the lower dock, he decided a little management was a must. That's why he summoned a sofa, some television, and a bed.

He used the supplies room as a way to put bedrooms, since he might have some people invited here.

Once he was near brazil, Percy came back into Tartarus and teleported the ship this way at the other side of the continent. He had initially thought he could wait and take the Panama Canal. But it cost way too much and Percy didn't feel like making the fastest ship ever made wait 4 weeks.

At first, he was pushed by the equatorial counter, and everything was great, but after a moment, Percy understood one thing: don't ever try to go north at the west of Mexico.

So, Percy re-teleported himself, and he was in view of los Angeles!

He wanted to say hell-o to an old friend (the third time I'll make this joke, it'll be the funniest thing you ever knew), and to meet his uncle once more.

Sure, when your uncle was the keeper of the dead and lord of HELL, it wasn't natural. But Percy felt like it would be great to be friend with Hades.

So, he stopped the ship (or bumped a beach) and jumped in the beach where the ship was still unseen. It then went back in Tartarus.

Charon was surprise to meet Percy twice, and still alive. When the demigod asked a meeting with Hades, Charon was more surprised. But he had had his raise, so…

Percy was now petting Cerberus. Some dead souls were looking at him like if he had a death-wish. Others like if he was crazy. Most didn't care.

Percy then went to Hades' castle.

"Dear nephew. I don't think you're here to know how I am. Why are you here?"

"Well, first, yes I was. But I feel you got your children out of that casino, so… If you ever need help with a transportation for them, ask me, ok?"

"And how will you help them, son of Hestia?"

"You know the ship that got princess Andromeda's protection fall?"

Hades nodded, as he already guessed what Percy was going to say, but not willing to believe it yet.

"Well, it's mine", said Percy with pride.

"How long would it take for you to go to the Maine state?", asked the eldest of the big three.

"How long do you have?"

"A few weeks?"

"I can do it. Why?"

"There is a monster not under my control near them. I just want you to help them."

"Will do", said Percy, as his ship appeared on the Styx, visible from the throne room.

Hades stayed in awe.

"Well, gotta go, am I right?"

* * *

 _And here you go!_

 _I'm going to explain a bit better how the new Queen Anne's revenge works: so, it teleports and Tartarus, and then back into the overworld. It must be in Tartarus , because if it wasn't, that would mean Olympians would know it, and… we want to avoid that._


	11. Back in the prime glory

_Back on track! So, this is the start of the Titan's curse, and it wasn't really a long book either, so I won't last four or five chapters… Well… I don't know!_

* * *

Annabeth and Thalia had to help Grover bring back two demigods. And it seemed like their scent was strong.

When they knocked at the door of the military school, Thalia had to use a bit of Mist manipulation. That made Annabeth think about how easy it was PJ.

They were currently watching from afar the demigods, one brother and one sister, partying like everybody.

"Can I invite you to dance?", asked a very well looking shadow behind Annabeth. That didn't surprise her anymore.

What did surprise her, however, was the suit he had. Skià looked like a businessman, very professional.

"Well, of course", said Annabeth.

They began to dance slowly, and when Skià notice how she was looking at this suit, he explained:

"My dad summoned it for me. He said that would help"

"Isn't your dad a monster?"

"You could say that!"

* * *

It didn't take long for the situation to go wrong. A teacher (Grover said it was a monster, but to both it was the same thing) panicked and took both children out.

Annabeth followed him in stealth mode, and Skià informed Thalia and Grover of the problem.

"The lord is going to be so pleased when he will see that!", said the manticore as it metamorphosed.

Why so early? Because the lord of time was pissed of all the setbacks they experienced. So, no more setbacks, and more protection.

When the demigods appeared, the only thing he feared was the shadow in the suit.

But he had a helicopter pointed at his friends and too far from Skià to reach.

That's when two "Boom" were heard. That's when a bullet made the teacher explode, and another made the helicopter do the same.

A boat was coming out of the haze, and it looked like a creation of Hephaistos.

It was a celestial-bronze boat, with canons that moved without anybody to move them, and that targeted all the dangers for the demigods.

An arrow flew. It hit a shield around the boat, and bounced.

Artemis' huntresses were now targeting the ship, that approach quickly the land. Suddenly, on top of a mast appeared a PJ.

"Hey Annabeth! Nico, Bianca! Your dad sent me to come and get you!"

The ship was now touching the cliff, and Percy climbed the few remaining meters to meet everyone.

"Hey! Annabeth, how are you, ouch!"

Percy just got a tackling hug from Annabeth, and he managed to continue even with the pain coming from everywhere.

"Nico, Bianca! What a pleasure to finally meet you two! Hey, Grover! Finally began to grow, huh? Oh, you are Thalia! Well, you don't act at all like your father so we're going to be good friends! Oh, Skià! Boy, that was too long! And some Artemis' huntresses! You can't kill me, so hello!"

Nico and Bianca looked at the stranger as if he was an alien. Everybody told them their dad was dead. Or didn't care. And now he sent that kind of cool pirate after them?

Artemis herself tried to shoot Percy, but, as always, her arrow melted before touching the boy.

"Well, milady, still trying to kill me? That's good, I wasn't out for long!"

"What is that?", asked Annabeth.

"Well", began Percy, "Queen Anne's revenge seriously needed an upgrade!"

* * *

The ship then disappeared, and Percy's eyes began to by a burning warmly once more.

"Don't worry, it will reappear once the only Olympians near are some I trust. Oh, by the way, Artemis! The bane of Olympus is out, and Hades said you might want to go alone, since… you don't want to share your weaknesses to everybody."

"Don't test my patience, _boy_."

"Listen, Artemis. I know you want to look strong in front of everyone, but you can cool of, you know! Stop threatening other people's life, and everything."

Everybody gasped. Even Nico and Bianca. Yes, Artemis looked like she was 12, but the anger in her eyes forced respect. And Percy played with fire.

All the huntress began to point their bow to Percy, but he said: "You can't kill me", and Skià started to become an armor, so they just watched the boy's eyes begin to burn with a dark purple fire, staring right in their souls and two voices said as one:

"I know what you think of men. I can literally read your mind right now. I know you all think we are just pigs, inferior beings. I don't think I would know if I was one. But, what I know is that right now, Artemis need to start looking for that monster until one way or another it ends somewhere safe.

What I know is that Princess Andromeda, despite my help, is still around, and that these two demigods will be taught by Chiron, then sent to their dad where I can make sure they're the family they deserve to be. For Hestia!"

"You're the one that dropped Luke's shield", said an unbelieving Artemis.

"Is that all that matters to you? As a matter of fact, I did. Happy? Now, you have a quest and I have to make sure these demigods, and these huntresses are safe inside the camp."

The armor went back to a human form, as Artemis nodded.

"Good.", began Percy, "now, Artemis followers, I must ask: the devil's boat or the sun car?

"What?", asked the older one, who was called Zoe Nightshade.

"Artemis want to call her brother. I know how much you hate him, so I let you the choice. Either way these two will be safe, taught, and they will visit Queen Anne's revenge if they want."

Artemis turned to her hunters and asked "vote: hands up, Apollo; hand down, PJ".

Most hands remained down, but Zoe's was up.

"Well, now you shall leave to let my boat come back."

Artemis clenched an arrow, targeting the boy, faster than ever. But she sighed, and left. As soon as she was back in the forest, the boat was back, and ropes began to build a bridge to the deck.

Thalia gulped, so Skià and PJ nodded, and Skià and Thalia teleported down here. PJ made sure to be the last one to go onboard, and as soon as he landed from a 12 meters jump, the boat left the cliff.

"Welcome on the Queen Anne's revenge, ladies. Don't touch anything, and Nico, come, we'll play mythomagic."

Nico and PJ sat down in the cool captain office, as the ship began to go way too fast for this kind of ships, and soon, for any kind.

Annabeth was playing with the boys, soon winning all the games, and that made Thalia laugh as she and Grover sat with everybody.

* * *

"So, PJ, how did you?", began Grover.

"not now, budd. I don't trust the huntress."

"Then why did you keep them out of view?", said Nico as he watched his sister training with some huntress.

"I see everything on this boat. Nico.", said PJ with a spooky voice, "and I win".

"What?!", shouted both Nico and Annabeth as Grover and Thalia laughed enough it would be considered bad for your lungs if the ship didn't have any healing properties.

"Now, who wants a breakfast", asked Percy as tables full of food appeared around everybody (and yes, that means the huntresses too. He is not a monster! Probably…)

As everybody finished to eat (excepted some huntress that feared the food was poisoned), Percy revealed they were on the beach of the camp.

He then made the boat visible to everybody out of it, and the temple of Hestia began once more to glow.

"Nice to see you too", said PJ to the monument.

"That's where you live?"

"Not recently, but, yeah, that's where I sleep when I sleep here."

Percy heard a " _boys_ ", coming from a huntress, and said: "And I want my two cousins to go sleep here too. Chiron may be a good trainer, but the direction didn't judge your dad worthy of building you a placeThalia, it was a pleasure meeting you. Ow, and Bianca, Nico, follow me, Chiron loves explaining to new people how things works, and I still have to negotiate the possibility of you sleeping in the temple."

"And where are you going to sleep?", teased Annabeth, but her grin faded as she saw the one of Percy's face.

"What a question! On the boat, of course!"

The arrival of the huntresses, an invisible boat, a satyr, a weird looking shadow, someone everybody believed was dead didn't go unnoticed. On their paths, demigods were looking in shock (especially Ares' child), and Clarisse said to Percy:

"I-I saw you take that bullet! How are you still alive?"

"You know, Clarisse, you need so much more than a bullet to kill me", said Percy in a deadpan voice, and he then laughed "and now so do my boat!"

Chiron agreed with the need of keeping the demigods in the temple, as he saw the pleading look on Percy's face. The boy said he knew who their father was, but didn't want to reveal his identity.

The trainer then spent two hours to explain that yes, Greek gods were alive, and that yes, their father was a god but only Percy knew his identity.

"And PJ?", asked Nico. "Is he a demigod like us, or is he a god?".

Chiron laughed. "PJ is… an exception, nobody really knows what he is, but he was adopted by Hestia. Technically, he is a demigod like you, but… I feel like he's more than what he shows."

Skià then appeared, and said. "Well, PJ doesn't like to speak about his past, but he always smiles and that's what's great about him!"

"And what are you?", asked Nico. Skià laughed at the innocence of this boy.

"Well, that is a good question. I suggest you ask your father in one or two months, because he knows it probably better than me!"

"You know who our father is?", asked both brother and sisters at the same time, with the same shock.

"I have a connection with Pe-PJ, so yeah I know a lot.", said Skià with a smile.

* * *

Then Percy made a personal camp visit with Nico and Bianca, and trained them both. With Hestia's power flowing out of his body, it was easy, and the Di Angelo(s) bettered their skills greatly.

Annabeth was watching on a bank, and Grover sat with her.

"That man is so natural at this, you could swear he is their father.", said the satyr.

"That's messed up", said Annabeth," but I have more probable theories. One of these is that these children are from our common friend bellow."

"You don't suggest…"

"Well, PJ was friendly with him last time."

"Friendly with who?" asked Thalia who had sneaked behind them.

"Our common friend bellow", said Grover, before putting hands in front of his mouth.

Thalia's happy face vanished into darkness.

"Well", said Skià, intruding the conversation once more," If you knew what kind of trick Zeus played to Hades recently, you would more understand why PJ is trying to calm the god of the deads."

Annabeth then watched Percy helping the two probable children of Hades to run faster and with littler expense.

His flames in his eyes were warm, as always, and he truly seemed to worry about his cousins.

They heard shouts as the ground opened on the beach, eating the boat.

Percy didn't care. He decided to train Bianca and her brother on how to use a bow, but he didn't take one.

"Why don't you show them, _boy_ ", said Zoe as she stood behind them.

Percy smiled, and said. "Well, Zoe Nightshade, you already know why, and I know your true identity too. So, why don't you stop messing around and help me?"

The boy then looked at her, and, to her surprise, what she saw in her eyes was mostly concern.

"If you want to speak about unspeakable origins, or bad heroes, you're always welcomed on my boat. If you don't, then just protect those who can't do it… yet."

That made her lose her temper. How dare that boy speak to her like if he knew? She threw a kick at the most sensible part of his anatomy, only to be blocked by a forcefield, and to hurt her foot really hard.

"Well, I guess that means we learn a lesson today. If you want to mess with a huntress, be prepared", toughed Percy to both demigods as that made them smile. He then helped them correct their position, and when lunch hour came, made some meal appear.

"How do you do that?", asked Bianca.

"Well, that's what I'm going to ask you when your father will have you. You are going to be so powerful! He will train you hard, and that's no man to show his feelings, but read in him and you're going to find a true love for you two."

"What about your dad", asked Nico.

"Well, you see that boat? My dad made sure it could teleport".

"Uh, PJ?", said Annabeth as she entered the conversation, and had a meal appear in her arms, "your boat got destroyed by an earthquake and fell into hell".

Percy laughed, as if this was a funny thing, and said:

"Annabeth, that boat went in the Styx multiple times. I'm sure it can handle anything."

* * *

 _And that's all for today! Have a nice week-end (probably)!_


	12. When prophecy rhyme with ennemy

_To_ _this_ _me, the story was just published yesterday, and I'm surprise to know you liked my epilogue!_

You should have seen the look on many demigods faces when the boat reappeared and Percy started to climb some ropes to go to sleep.

"Good night, everybody!"

Then the boat became a blur and disappeared.

Some of the huntresses were quite intrigued about why the demigod didn't show more of his boat's capacities, since it a daughter of Hecate in their rank said that this boat had some serious magic in it, but hat Zoe feared the most was what the boy was hiding.

The fact that he didn't use a bow, and well… even without her sea power, she could recognize a child of the sea. Why was he so defensive about this and why were everybody calling him the son of Hestia? A part of her understood him, and having hidden family was never simple, but she just feared what other secrets he had to hide.

Then they had a game of capture the flag, and the huntresses were once more victorious.

But neither Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Bianca and Percy played. Annabeth and Thalia were chatting about why Percy was disappearing more and more, when Nico and Bianca were just enjoying a nice rest in Hestia's temples.

On their bed (that just materialized out of nowhere), they found a letter for each of them, from their father, saying he loved them and how sorry he was to not be able to "interfere" earlier.

Knowing that none of the strongest demigods in camp wanted to fight pissed Zoe. What pissed her once more was that stupid temple that made her feel like if she was in _that_ garden once more.

But when she woke up after a great night, she felt rested, and for once didn't have any nightmares.

The temple was empty, but she felt at home near it. That's what made her leave the cabin 8.

Percy wasn't that lucky.

He spent his night dreaming about how that brat of Artemis is going to get caught, and how he would once more have to save her ungrateful ass.

Then something changed I is dream. He now saw a box, with letters written around it. The letters were way too complex, and he didn't know any alphabet that could include such uneasy letters to write. Nevertheless, when he looked at it… the letters didn't move. If he could read them, then he wouldn't have any problem.

One of them was understandable. It seemed to be a circle, with a pattern inside that represented the world. On top of the circle was a line, that seemed to hover around the entire box. Somehow Percy knew it was part of this digit.

The rune began to glow when Percy touched it, and he heard a titan wake up not far.

The dream finished and when he woke up, Percy knew something was wrong. He had forgotten.

He woke up in a lake with mountains not far. When he looked at his map, he was in Switzerland. _GREAT._

He teleported back to Hades to inform him how his children are, and learnt the mighty god of the deads had sent them a loving letter.

Percy then went to say hello to his mom, both the official and the real one, and they were both happy to know he was happy and feeling well. As the night ended in the mortal world, Percy made his boat go back to the camp, and prepared to train the siblings today. Artemis getting captured was also on his mind, but he didn't really like the goddess.

He decided to only go on the quest if Annabeth, Grover or Thalia had to go too.

Queen Anne's revenge materialized on the lake of the camp. Percy used some ropes to hold the boat, and used one of them as a bridge to the coast. Some Naiads grinned at him, but when they saw the look on his face, none of them had any idea to harm the invincible boat anymore.

When Annabeth woke up, her brothers and sisters were already theorizing how the warship could have ended on the lake.

She looked by a window, and saw PJ walking on a rope as if it was normal, and glaring at some naiads. She smiled, and prepared to go out.

When she was ready, she directed herself to the arena, where she expected him to train once more the two siblings.

"As long as you are together, you can do miracles. Don't ever forget that.", said Percy to the siblings with a tone of someone way older than 13, "so today you will both fight against me."

Annabeth and a few other campers (that includes some of Aphrodite's children) watched the fight. PJ was holding back, everybody could see that. He wasn't trying to win, just to honestly help them.

At a point, Thalia went in the Arena and defied Percy, who said "Why not", as he began fighting three opponents. He was moving faster to fight Thalia, but still managed to let the siblings some space. When Annabeth joined, he was laughing as he seemed to dance, his dark sword made from shadows becoming a blur, and becoming visible only when Percy fought the children of Hades.

At one point, Thalia screamed with rage and launched a lightning bolt at the boy. As soon as she did that, fire came from all the camp and stopped the electricity, and then danced with its master.

Everybody stepped aside when Zoe defied the boy.

"I refuse", began Percy, but he soon had a sword under his throat.

"Are you afraid, _boy_?"

"I have nothing to prove", said Percy, "but it would be profitable for the Hunt if you stayed undefeated."

The sword began to come closer to his skin, as Zoe really freaked out everybody.

"If you want it that much…"

Percy began to fight with her. She was doing her best. He wasn't. He lost terrain, and when he had her knife under his throat again, he asked "happy?"

" _Boy_ ," began Zoe.

"Call me PJ", cut the demigod.

"Stop holding back!", said the old Hesperides, and everybody watched her sword press against the boy, throat, with a move too quick.

Nobody saw what happened after. Her sword was suddenly ten foots away, and Percy was standing right in front of her. Every fire in the state burnt brighter.

"Stop threatening other's life. You could miss an opportunity to do what's right, especially when you're going to kill the only one who know that Artemis failed and need help.

All the campers, now watching gasped.

All the hunt shot arrows at the boys, but their arrows phased threw him as Skià appeared.

"Stop **right now** ", said the shadow in a low voice.

Nobody would dare to defy the duo that defeated Ares, so all the Huntress bow went all down.

Percy then turned to his protégés and said: "Now, what about we go on the boat and I help you figure out your powers?"

The three left, and Skià disappeared, glaring at every huntress.

Annabeth and Thalia (and Grover, who just joined), tried to go stop Percy from leaving once more, and when they arrived, the boat was still there.

"Too bad the boat is gone", said a son of Hermes, trying to make a prank.

They looked at him as if he was an alien, and Percy appeared on the bridge and said: "come! You're always welcome on the boat!"

That's how two demigods and a satyr disappeared in front of nearly fourteen people.

The boat was in hell. A purple looking hell.

The air was surprisingly breathable, and the next thing the demigods knew, they were in London.

Well the boat was near of the Eye, and it was hidden behind a lot of Mist.

"So", said Percy, "my boat can teleport."

"Wait,", said Annabeth, "That was Tartarus!"

Everybody looked at Percy. He began to rub his head, and said.

"Before I answer, I want you all to swear on Styx that what is said on the boat remains a secret.", said Percy.

They all made the oath (and Percy explained what kind of oath it was before letting the siblings do it), and that made him smile.

"Oh, gods, Styx is going to kill me for so many oaths. Alright, let me introduce myself:

I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and a mortal named Sally Jackson. My mother died by some monsters, and I was adopted by Gaia and her husband, Tartarus, with the benediction of Hestia and the help of Nyx.

Recently, it began clear that Chronos was escaping my father's domain, so I had to come on earth help you guys, under a fake identity. I even divided myself between me and Skià to help me have access to all my powers without being traceable by the Olympians, as Skià has no soul to track or tear apart.

The rest is history."

Chaos followed that declaration. Nico shouted, "Super cool!", while both Annabeth and Thalia slapped Percy at the same time, and Grover just said:

"Bu-but, PJ, er… Percy, y-your ado-adoptive parents, they're evil!"

Percy sighed, and said; they used to be, but you got to understand that Gaia was furious that her son got killed. Her sleep calmed her down, and that's why they're not evil anymore.

"And why did you tell us only now?", said Annabeth, as she felt betrayed.

"When? Where Olympus was watching? I've always been as honest as I could to protect my family. Look at your reactions, and now imagine it Olympus-wide."

Silence was now ruling the boat. Percy was right. The Chaos it would make would be… way too big. Elements would be fighting each other, and none of the demigods (since the satyr just fainted) knew it could be compared to… Kronos ruling the world. And that's not what they want.

"So…", began Thalia, "Why tell us?"

"Because I trust you. Thalia, we don't know each other for long, but you seem a good person, and your part of my family too, as my cousin, and adopted grandniece, and that's so weird!"

That remark made them smirk.

"And who is our father, then?", asked Bianca.

"Er… your father is… you know what? That's part of the oath, but you can release that part if you want for everybody: Your father is Hades."

"I KNEW IT", shouted Annabeth, waking Grover up.

"What happened?", said the sleepy satyr.

"Annabeth knew what Nico and Bianca's godly parent is. And you fainted", answered Thalia.

"Any other question?", asked Percy to everybody.

"Just what are you going to do with Artemis?"

"I'll only help if one of you guys are in the quest. Otherwise, it's none of my concerns."

"But aren't you against Luke?", asked Annabeth in worry.

"Luke tried to kill me less times than Artemis."

"Why are you still with Olympus, then?", asked a worried Thalia.

"I'm not on Olympus' side. I'm on my family's side. And yours. You happen to be on Olympus side, so be it."

Then Percy turned to the siblings, and said "now I'll teach you how to shadow travel.", he paused a moment, and Thalia, Annabeth and Grover sat on some seats that appeared behind them. "Come with me in the lower deck. We'll teleport here.

And Percy spend the next hour training the demigods. Once they finished, the ship teleported back into camp and they all reappeared for the other campers.

Grover had learned a new music to try on the plant, as Percy said it could be useful in extreme cases.

Annabeth and Thalia had a speed training.

In camp, they all watched Percy come back with the missing people. Rumors about him defeating the strongest huntress without willing so spread, and demigods started to ask good questions, such as: "WTF is this man?"

Or _boy_ , for the demigoddesses in the Hunt.

Even Chiron was wondering the same thing, even if the formulation was a bit… harsh for him.

Zoe was practically pleading for PJ to be punished as severely as possible, but Skià showed the scene and proved that nothing wrong was caused by the demigod. Zoe started to hate that shadow.

When Percy came back in the big house, two hours after his boat disappeared, Zoe was trying to get a quest.

"Ah! PJ!", started Chiron, "I want you to be the one leading the quest to liberate Artemis, since you…"

"I refuse", cut Percy, "Zoe shall lead it. I still have two demigods to train, and if they're not either in my boat or in this camp they'll die."

Zoe was quite shocked. The boy refused to help a goddess just for two demigods? Who were they?

"But if one of my friends is in this quest, I'll make sure they survive, don't worry."

That's how Zoe went into the attic to meet one of Apollo servants. Well, at least this one swore maidenhood. Green mist began to spread and as it looked like snakes it said:

 _Seven shall go find the goddess._

 _Without any help nor any bless,_

 _Heroes, huntress, fighting along,_

 _Will see the titan, cursed for long._

 _Two will be offered to change side._

 _One will agree, not out of pride._

 _And the quest members who searched the fleece._

 _Will bring in the end what is called peace._

 _Once again, that prophecy isn't very well said, and I'm sorry for this. However, you should understand that it is hard when you just have a blunt idea. I'll keep my secret about the few mysteries that this means._


	13. Nightmares and mortals alike

_I want to make this chapter a bit longer than the others. So, I may include a scene , unusual… to say the least. Also, this chapter was made in a inter writing session period, meaning that it took many weeks to achieve it. If you see any anomaly, please PM me so I can correct it for future readers. Enjoy!  
_

* * *

Percy officially hated everything time related. The fates had been jerks with him since his birth, maybe even before, Kronos was actively trying to kill him especially, and the prophecy forced him to work with man-haters huntress, that tolerated his existence because they couldn't end it.

As he promised, he joined. The prophecy included at least Annabeth and Grover. Clarisse said she didn't want to come, so Thalia took her place. Why didn't Clarisse want to come? Well, imagine you shoot someone, burn his house. You may have been right, it may have been fair, but when that someone didn't die and took his time to build a castle out of his house ruins in five months, you feel down.

And going in a quest while feeling down was the best way to end dead. You had more chance to die from that than from suicide, so…

Zoe had chosen two Huntress to go with her, ne called Phoebe and the other Jessica. The three most powerful of the hunt, just waiting to remodel the _boy_ until you couldn't say he was one. Or a human. Maybe a brick. Bricks look great!

PJ was once more in the center of the focus, so he spent his remaining time sparing with his protégés and making Skià swear to teach them.

The huntresses looked at the boy. He was a mystery to them. Especially since he beat Zoe, and some of them still didn't believed he actually won.

When one of them tried to make him speak about what happened, he said: "I cheated."

That reassured everybody, except Zoe who said: "Really?"

"Don't ask question you don't want to know the answer of", answered PJ.

That made the huntresses furious, and when Percy got twenty-one arrows loaded at least than one foot of his face, (more of them were further), he just said: "Told you you should just win and let me leave." in a tone of pure depression.

The arrow went back to a safe position (understand somewhere they would need two seconds to hit PJ), and the incident was closed.

When Annabeth and Thalia finished to pack their backpacks, they were waiting on the beach. When Percy arrived, he made a bridge out of ropes to let them go up.

PJ noticed the look of fear on Thalia's face, and then decided to have some ropes go secure her position while PJ helped her go on the boat. She was afraid of height. He kept her problem under silence.

When everybody was loaded, PJ went giving everybody masks to help them not see the teleportation.

"You know, if you watch, there is a small probability that you become crazy", explained the captain.

"What about you, _boy_?" asked a suspicious Zoe.

"Someone has to see where we're going."

He then went in his cabin, activated some music, and when he heard _Highway to hell_ , he found that so accurate he decided to let the show on.

The boat disappeared with a "POP!" and some heavy metal. Chiron was watching from afar, and when the boat teleported, he felt… He felt Tartarus. The young PJ earned him some excuses.

When the boat reappeared, they were near of a barrage. The members of the quests slowly uninstalled their mask that conveniently disappeared, and admired the lake.

"Well, said PJ, I will stop my boat here, since it's a place random, and the Princess Andromeda can't damage my boat here."

"I thought you say it was invincible", said Jessica.

"I don't want to test that with our best asset now. Do you?", answered Percy with a concerned tone.

A soon as they got near a cliff, PJ led the way. Hestia's power activated. He could see everybody's soul in a large range. Maybe one mile?

Well, that was new, but he was on a quest, with his friend, near his safely parked boat. Or someone just opened a door to Tartarus without caring, and let the energy of darkness flow.

As he felt some Spartois exit the ground, he got his answer.

"Ladies and satyr, I'm sorry to announce you that someone just invoked Zombie warriors. Currently, I might be the only one on the group to kill them, so if you meet one, just tell me. There are automatons near, I can feel it, and you might want Annabeth to chat with them."

"Where are you going, _boy?_ ", asked Zoe as PJ was beginning to leave for Hoover's entrance.

"Helping a mortal with her life, she can see threw mist, and that's an asset I don't want on Chronos', side."

The group looked at him like he was an alien, but he already melted with the tourists flow.

* * *

Rachel was having a great day.

Until a smiling boy went speaking to her. She noticed a few thing odds, about this boy. First, his eyes looked like a fire. Then she noticed a sailing ship in the far, and she was sure it wasn't here ten minutes ago. Finally, this boy had an aura… that felt weird. Not wrong, but weird. She was relaxed, and this boy looked at her like if he knew her.

"Hello Rachel", he began, and that answered her question. Yep, he knew her. "I'm here to talk about these things you see."

She sweat-dropped.

How did he know?

"They are true. You're not crazy, you just happen to see through the Mist. The mist is a magic field that should make you think that everything is normal. I believe you already saw weird looking people in the streets, but you didn't know how to react, nor what to say."

She nodded. It was so true.

"The thing is that your ability is powerful, especially for a mortal. That could lead you to choose a side in a coming war that nobody would hear of. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but who are you?"

"I don't have much time. But in one week, if you want us to continue your chat, just call Skià out loud, when the shadow will appear, just ask him to see me. My name's PJ, by the way. I have to go, now."

Spartois began to appear near of them, and that made him sigh.

"Well, Rachel, I have to leave. Don't forget, ok? Oh, and also, I love your arts, you truly have talent! Don't hate your home, it's not because it's big it must be empty!"

PJ then leaved, running. Rachel was still wondering what happened when the angels shaped deities (and not automaton) took off.

Zoe was pissed during that flight, and for a reason. Why? Because she's always pissed! that's a reason! Not a good one, but still. She shot at every target that was underneath them, and PJ couldn't help but praise her accuracy.

Jessica was convincing Thalia that the Hunt would save her from the prophecy. It was true to an extent. By the way, Percy was now using a lot of energy for Thalia and Grover to don't faint, since the angels weren't … that sober?

He was with Annabeth, and that's all that mattered to him right now.

"You're staring", said Annabeth.

"It usually makes it easier to read your thoughts.", said Percy hoping he didn't blush.

"So, who was that mortal?"

"Rachel Elisabeth Dare, daughter of a rich businessman, feels alone and can see through Mist. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you left us alone to go meet her…"

"A war is coming, Annabeth. Having someone that doesn't need energy to see through Mist is an asset that could be used and should be used everywhere."

"Especially on your boat."

"Oh, I see where you are trying to go. I didn't flirt with her. Seriously. I did give her advice, but you know, I'm still a son of Hestia…", answered PJ.

"I thought you…" began Annabeth before letting her last word keep going a bit of time.

"You thought wrong. Hey, who knows, she could be the next Oracle?"

"yeah, and I'm Zeus under disguise."

"Annabeth, I can assure you, whatever you think, she's not here to replace you or anything."

"Why would I think that?", asked a blushing Annabeth.

"Because I've been gone for what, four months, without telling you I was alive, and you could think I've been making new friends. The only new friend I've been making is Hades, and even if he's underrated, I still prefer your company by far."

"Where have you been?"

"Visiting my family and building my boat. I guess I should tell you to do the same, but you don't seem to have any emotional link with them now."

"Well said Temple head", said Thalia's voice.

That's when they noticed that everybody stopped their chat to hear them talk. PJ laughed before Annabeth could react.

"Well, Grover, I've been meaning to tell you", began Percy, and then kept, "you're the best satyr. Maybe the only one, but man! Three quests in two years and a half? That's a record!"

Grover giggled and Thalia's intestine began to growl.

She looked at Percy and said "PJ, I know you can summon food. Do it!"

PJ sighed, and did it. The food wasn't delicious, but it was good! Better than anything they could have gotten when they were on a quest.

"Not your best", said Grover.

"I like to touch the ground."

All the campers nodded and Zoe just asked:

"Is there another meaning to this sentence?"

"Zoe, I have to trust you with my life for this mission. That doesn't mean I can trust you with my identity, especially since you've already threaten me with a part of it.", answered Percy, as he summoned dessert.

He made sure to not feed the Huntresses with meat. It was stupid, yes, but if his protections went down, he would love them to be a bit less strong.

Because he knew of Zoe's ''special arrow '' that she wanted to ''give '' him, and he sincerely if he could run away, he would.

It was night-time when they arrived at San-Francisco.

They decided to build a camp that Percy protected by Mist, and he missed something because in the morning they got some coins. They all got a night that allowed them to be fully rested, except…

* * *

Percy Jackson was having the worst nightmare of his life.

He was standing in front of the box, still the same one, but it began to change, to grow longer, to become golden.

It was now a coffin. Something was inside. And that thing was laughing.

His mind became clear with something: he had to run.

That's why he made a step forward. Then another.

The thing in the coffin was laughing more and more, like if Percy struggling with his body was the funniest thing ever (and to some people it was).

Then Percy saw a Monster.

What was that monster? Well, that was the cutest thing you ever saw. It was an Ophiotaurus. And it seemed to like Percy a lot.

Percy knew it was the bane of Olympus. Why? Well, the same way he knew the Ophiotaurus was back: Tartarus was the home of Monsters, and it was part of Tartarus' legacy to know everything about them.

Percy had to protect the beast, before it was too late.

That's why his blade appeared in his hand.

That's why he killed it. He then sacrificed the loot to Tartarus.

Power was flowing through his veins.

And that's when he understood something. There was a limit of what amount of power a mortal could take.

That's why his skin began to glow a golden light. That's why his internal organs began to dissolve into pure power.

He was a living bomb.

That's why Annabeth was here.

He was going to explode.

That's why she took a step forward.

He couldn't hold it any longer.

That's why she began to plead.

Everything went white.

Except Annabeth went red.

Except Chronos went alive.

Except the world went into ashes.

He was now dead. He was now in camp. All the buildings were collapsing, and a fire ball hit right into his temple. The Hearth held.

Then he began to destroy it. The fire ceased. In both his eyes and the hearth of the temple.

Camp lost his last barrier.

Percy took some time to admire the destruction. He then took a step backward.

To have a better picture.

He then missed his step.

He didn't collapse.

He just tripped on a corpse.

That's when he saw what he was seeking to perfect the picture. Corpses were everywhere. And if some still moved, that was only because the last fighter was Bianca di-Angelo.

He moved toward her.

She then turned at him, every limb she had shaking.

"Look, I'll heal you and then you tell me what happened. Deal?", wanted to ask Percy.

"Just wait for the sweet release of Death.", said Percy in a cold voice.

Her eyes went wide as the water left her body. As the shadows left her powers. As the feelings left her mind. As her organs left their places. As her soul joined Tartarus.

Percy knew he couldn't do anything. It was hopeless.

Hopeless.

"Not entirely", said a voice.

Percy turned, the letter, the symbol was behind him. It was floating in the air. It felt so weak. It felt so wrong.

"One day, you're going to need my power, hero.", said the rune in a low voice, "for I am weak alone, and strong bounded. For I am everything, but is the weakest thing. For I that keep you living, but can get you killed. For I am with your weakness, and never with your strength."

The riddles remained in the air long after the voice extinguished.

But they died when Umbra pierced threw the letter.

One letter that hade the meaning of the world. The hardest letter for the easiest thing.

As he's thinking was about to end, he heard something blow.

He was in New York. He was moving fast. Really fast. And the biggest apple was covering herself in the shadows. He was in front of the wave of pure darkness. And something was wrong.

He wasn't trying to escape the wave. He was leading it.

He felt the Mist trying to protect mortals. Then fail. The mortals saw their end.

Percy began to run. And he was fast. When he got the speed of a car on the highway, he stopped focusing on his speed. He focused on the direction.

That's why he ended up turning right, to see the only building in Ney York that goes up to the floor 600. Shadows were following him, and began to circle the imperial building.

As soon as his wave of power touched the door, the world began to shake.

It was like someone was tearing it apart.

That's when he understood he was the one doing it.

The world became hell as his dream shifted.

It was now more realistic than ever, it felt like a memory.

Percy was standing right in front of the Olympians. Chained. For the third time in two years and a half.

"We shall now vote for either the death or the survival of the demigod PJ", said the Olympians.

Reluctantly, all the gods held their hands up. It felt like a chore.

"Any last word?", said Artemis.

He knew somehow his friends were behind him, crying.

He had to stall. He felt in his back his hands moving on their own.

"Olympians, Olympians. I am PJ, avatar of ****, and your greatest threat yet. You can try to kill me but let me warn you. I'll never die. I'm PJ, and you'll lose this war before it even started, because you fear power as soon as it's not in your hands. I held the sky with a bare hand and you hope to defeat me? Go on."

The incantation was now nearly over. He smiled as thunder grew over New York's sky, and said with a lazy voice: "I am your darkest hope. I always have a backdoor."

Space torn itself behind him, and even with his chains, he jumped in the dimension of madness behind him. A lightning bolt was thrown. Annabeth cried.

Thalia gasped.

No corpse was found.

Because nobody died.

"Ask for my help… my avatar."

* * *

 _Well, that was long. Hope you enjoyed! I'll let this story for now, even if for you there shouldn't be any pause. I hope you enjoy, and try to guess via PM whose avatar Percy is._

 _And next chapter in this the same case about being written in an inter session period._


	14. Reflection without mirors

_What is this story?_

 _Well, it might be a bit late to wonder that now, am I right?_

 _Oh, how wrong you are. We are here in the 13_ _th_ _chapter. We are here a bit before this story separate itself from the official timeline. We are here for… Well, you're her to read, and I'm here to write._

 _I have other projects (in French), and this story was… A beta test. I am here testing characters that I want to include or not in my other stuff. I am here to see how my characters develop, how I can manage to write them, and everything._

 _And I'm going to include them now, one after the other, in this story. That means that my double version of Percy Jackson was entirely designed for this story. That means that now is time to make this story what I always wrote on the front-page: It's a spiritual quest. Not only for redemption, but for something more… For stability._

 _That means Hestia._

 _That means (on a complete different level) Nyx._

 _This character is officially included I this story. This chapter is for her, for this character that I wish to develop more, that I wish to make three dimensional: not just "I'm the night" kind of vibe, but more like the kind of vibe I always got when I was reading about the primordials._

 _That's a fucked-up family._

 _Olympians are too, of course, but primordials… We are standing here on a different level of fucked-up. And (ironically), I don't see them as force of chaos. I don't think they would see the constructions of the gods and mortals, and say: let's destroy all of it._

 _Because mankind has always, as far as we can remember, done one thing: Tame the elements._

 _We can now predict where seism will strike (not when, that's still sad), where we can have a volcano, how the air, how the sea will react…_

 _We are able to hold the sea, and as a few of Rick Riordan's character would say: "the sea doesn't like to be contained"._

 _To me, if there are primordials (which I absolutely don't believe, by the way) out there, we are taming them, slowly._

 _That's why I don't want Gaea to be evil. Her family is fucked-up, of course, and I think that Kronos is, but… not mother earth._

 _Oh, and I think too that now is the time that I begin to explain what caused Gaea to stir up earlier, what cause me to be able to write Chronos and Kronos and to still talk about the same character. Because, yes, I know they're not. But I need Kronos to be… different._

 _I need time to stand united against… well, against Olympus' darkest hope. I still have to justify that title, by the way!_

* * *

Nyx was currently in her throne room. And in half of the outside world. She was lonely, Erebus having faded long ago. She was thinking about him a lot, lately. This time would have been such fun for him… And for Chronos.

Ironically, Chronos didn't got the same fate as her husband. He was her favorite brother, always here to play when they were children, and… well, only time can get night upon you.

Time and Tartarus. The place where it's always the darkest night, the cruelest time, the weirdest brother… He had been fun too. Before… Before Gaea began to sleep.

And Chaos knows how Nyx loved her sister. How she wished too to see her awoken once again. Just to see if she could finally stop to try to kill everything that isn't peaceful to her…

Because even if Night forgives you every sin, the earth knows how to hold grudges.

But she still had to be forgiven for what her son did. Her favorite son, just… He tasted power.

The brat killed Ouranos. What a big deal! He killed his father (a terrible father, but killing that kind of people is still hard to forgive), and he tasted power. The black sheep gained power, time gained its weapon, and soon began to reap.

Reap, over and over, and over.

Reap everyone it could, reap everything.

And then time met the only thing able to truly defeat him: a paradox. A simple paradox.

Time was two beings. One of ichor and meat, and one of pure power, pure time. Divided was time.

What happened next wasn't something that Nyx had prepared. Nor understood completely. Time reunited.

And the son of earth got the upper hand. And Kronos became time. He stole everything, her brother's power, her brother's name… Everything.

He basically stole time.

And the only thing keeping him from winning against the Olympians? Ananke.

Time and Fate fought. Fate won. And now, Ananke was nowhere to be seen since… her victory.

Nyx couldn't care less about the Olympians. But she wanted time to be her kind brother again, not her mad nephew.

She wanted too to have Gaea back. For one reason: the prophecy of the seven.

 _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,  
To storm or fire, the world must fall,  
An oath to keep with a final breath,  
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_

When your sister is the world, you try to protect her, right? And they could kill two birds with one stone; together they find Ananke, who changes the prophecy, defeat Time again, and everything will be alright!

She learned the prophecy while a foolish quest was trying to get to Alaska. So, she watched every powerful bearer of both storm and fire. She's night, right? She could see them when they were the weakest, feel their powers, try to unravel the prophecy…

And one day she found the bearer of storm. A young male demigod. A son of Poseidon. Another oath on her daughter thrown to… you get the idea.

It took her two years to wake Gaea while ensuring she would go under the radars, don't let her stir, don't let her move to much.

Tell Gaea about the plan, give her all the data accumulated.

Percy Jackson would be dead before becoming a threat.

The palace of Nyx was in Tartarus. She felt the wave of… less hatred? Hey, in Tartarus, that's a HUGE deal!

So when both her brother and her sister arrived, she wasn't surprised.

When she saw that Gaea had somehow managed to capture an Olympian, she was very interested.

Wait. Why wasn't the goddess in chains? Please tell Nyx that the giggling being in her sister's arm wasn't… dead? Why wasn't he at least afraid? Oh no. The world is falling!

"Dear sister", began Nyx, with a very calm tone from her point of view, "if you want to kill the demigod, I would appreciate if you didn't plan to do it in my palace."

"Calm down sis'", said Gaia, "I don't plan to kill him. I think he likes me."

On the surface, the part of the world where the sun didn't shine (not that part) saw some lights.

"You don't plan to kill him?"

"We plan to raise him.", said Tartarus.

"You already have one family!"

"Yes", said Hestia calmly. "But honestly, Nyx, this family of Gaia is about as messed up as mine."

"Then why don't you _goddess_ leave and repair it?"

"Because the roots of discords are in mother earth. If I end her problems, slowly this should propagate to the entire branch of the family."

"That won't work."

"Maybe. But what's wrong about hoping… What's wrong about helping my grandma to raise my adoptive uncle?"

"He's your nephew.", pointed out Nyx.

"That's not the most messed up thing in immortal families that had ever happened."

That made all the immortals chuckle.

"So, what is Olympus waiting for me?" asked Nyx as if it was a joke.

"Yeah, by the way… I'm totally doing that behind their back. Just, so you know, I'll help you as long as you're a loving family."

That's how Perseus Jackson, children of the prophecy of the seven, became the heir of both Gaia and Tartarus.

That's how he began to dig his way into his new family.

Let' take back to an 8 years old Percy, will you?

* * *

5 years later

* * *

Percy Jackson was good with a sword.

That had to be expected.

He was a clever child, able to quickly make plans up, as if the only reason why Poseidon's children weren't clever was because they were told it was impossible. After learning how to use shadows, he quickly developed a real affection for them. And most amazingly, he had this power to create the emotion he wanted in any immortal he met. They understood that after he began to be chased by some araes began to chase him in all Tartarus.

And then he somehow submitted them under his command.

When Aunty Nyx, as he said, asked him how he did it, he simply said that Tartarus was the pit of pain and every creature, alive or not feared pain. Show them what's agony, and you'll be the most feared being in this world.

Nyx since then remembered his birthday every year, imagining each time a different present.

Today was a sparring session.

The sword was a single handed one.

On the contrary of what you could believe, single handed swords aren't much for offense, they often let the place for a shield, and don't make so much precise blow. They need large movement, a lot of strength, and a good ability to use a shield. This doesn't mean you can't do some precise trick. It just makes it harder. In fact, for precision, the best is to use a very light sword, two-handed.

And Percy's sword was heavy. This isn't necessarily a problem. This is a different strategy. Your goal with this is to stun your enemy. In fact, against good armors (generally the heavy ones), a heavy sword is the best solution. In those cases, the enemy isn't just jumping around, he is reducing his movements to their minimum, each should be efficient. This mean less preparation and ability to dodge. This means that slow blows hit.

When Tartarus in his shadow-form entered the circle, the issue of this fight had already been decided.

Percy was going to lose. No maiming, no kill. Just yielding under powerful blows. The fact is that Tartarus wouldn't use his real strength. No powers.

The real question was how long could Percy last?

If Percy could last long enough, then it was good enough for him to flee a fight against a much more powerful opponent.

Percy steadied his blade, prepared his shield.

Tartarus jumped.

Roll, get out.

Jump out of the blow's range. Block the second one. Go a bit back.

Then jump forward, sword forward, under the guard.

Attack blocked.

Position incorrect. Enemy has detected this. Back up. Recompose the defense. No opening.

Attack incoming. Dodge on the right. Move backward, turn around. Attack blocked.

Move forward. Attack blocked.

Attack blocked.

Attack blocked.

Attack dodged.

Attack incoming. Rolling. Blocked.

It's time to be hell.

Attack.

Attack.

Attack.

Attack.

Attack.

Attack.

Attack.

Percy was relentlessly blocking the attacks from his father. They were coming faster and faster, and the blade was coming always nearest to his neck.

He rolled backward. Bad idea with a shield.

He was on the floor, with basically no momentum. So, he did what he was taught to do: he improvised.

His muscles readied as he pushed with all his strength on the floor, pulling him up in an instant… Only to find his father's sword under his throat.

He made a step backward.

The blade made a step forward.

He jumped backward while making an attack.

Grave mistake. The blade didn't move. He had just met an unmoving obstacle. And he wasn't an unstoppable force.

His sword only proposed him slightly on the side, making him lose whatever control he had over his trajectory. He lost his balance. He fell on the ground. He had lost.

When he yielded, his father showed him how much time he survived: 5 seconds.

Shadows were moving in the arena, showing Percy when and where his father could have easily killed him, where and when he was in checkmate and only escaped because nobody wanted to hurt one another.

He began to train harder, to push rocks and shadows (which, once solidified, are surprisingly heavy).

When he passed nine years old, his musculature was one of a warrior. And he began to do less and less mistakes. While he had always been great at improvising, he began to develop strategies more complexes, making swipes in the air to position his enemy where he wanted.

Then they began to train with his powers. If Percy ever challenged an Olympian (and that was entirely possible to his parents since he was always challenging every immortal he didn't like), he had to be on toe to toe with them. In fact, as Gaia often said; "the devil is in the details".

That made Tartarus chuckle for a reason.

But that made Percy look at his powers under a different angle.

He could never hope to defeat an Olympian in a full battle. In fact, if he ever became as powerful as one, Nyx said his body would burn from the ichor in his cells. And Nyx wasn't joking with this kind of things.

So he had to don't use more power than an Olympian, but to use them better. First, at night. With the protection of his aunt. Second, on his battlefield. Third, with precision.

He began to train on using weapons and shapes from the shadows, to make them move even when he was not around (In fact he had a pet rock that really moved, even when its master wasn't nearby).

He was now known in the entire Arae population as the uncursable one. Not a real word, and to some of them, not a real person. I mean, come on! A son of Tartarus that chased after pain bringers! It was as if he and Gaia had a peaceful son! Oh wait…

* * *

Damasen was free of his curse. Yep, like that. Now he behaved like a normal peaceful monster, reaching the surface somehow (even himself didn't know how he really did), and he enjoyed life as a simple human, changing cities a lot in a state named Finland or Suomi, that's weird.

He then became a simple man, with simple preoccupations. Of course, snakes began to fear him a bit, but he was happy.

And passed the polar circle.

* * *

 _This chapter was… something else. When I write it, we're the 23th December and it's the first one I make out of the first rush (because yes the 12 first chapters were written at the same time)._

 _To me, the last chapter was just released, and I was still keeping my weekly chapter in the hope to give you two on the day of Christmas (hop I did, because it's in the future to me). I really wanted to thank you all for your encouraging messages. I try to answer them all, but I really can't with the guests._

 _Oh and I miscalculated my "merry Christmas and happy new year", didn't I?_

 _Wow, I imagine we'll be in the end of January when I'll publish this… Hope you're not too lost!_


	15. Not the end but an end

_So this chapter is the one where changes are made, where I stop to follow the timeline of PJO (did I say I don't own it? Because i feel like i should.). I resolved the book three, yes, but this ending is rushed. Why? Because it's no ending._

 _It's the start of something new._

Percy woke up. Or at least he thought he did. But he was still in his world of nightmare.

His boat was consumed in flames, his friends on it (he simply knew it).

He watched the Titan lord standing in front of him.

"Well well well, _brother_ ", spat time, or Kronos, or Chronos, they're all one entity nowadays, "Romulus and Remus were… a start, and we'll finish it. Two deadly enemies, two brothers."

"You're killing mom by doing this!" wanted to shout Percy, but his lips were sealed.

"I know, I know. You're adopted. You know, I think every big brother used that against the little at least once. You can't prove you're not, etcetera. Of course, in your case, it is at a complete other level.

You are always at a complete different level, aren't you?"

Then for no reason time laughed, as if the younger brother was a joke that no one could catch.

"Oh, the irony! I am two beings fused into one, and you are one being, divided in two. We truly are opposites"

Percy couldn't agree more. They were opposites.

Time destroy and Perseus, despite his name, created.

Now, why the past tense?

A building felled on Percy.

Every one of the thirty-two floors was a torture. Every desk, every bed, everything in it seemed to be crushing on the idea to crush Percy.

His bones reached their end soon enough. His pain never.

He woke up screaming.

"Nightmares?", asked Grover, already awoken.

San Francisco's streets were already well alive, and everybody was awoken.

"I guess everyone guessed. You are so lucky to don't have them around me… Even if I guess that means I am having yours… I someone there afraid of power?"

"No", said quickly Thalia.

"Well then I guess it's my own phobia."

"PJ", began Annabeth, "breakfast, please."

Even the huntresses nodded.

"Oh, for Tartarus' sake!", began PJ.

He was cut by Skià coming out of a shadow with food.

"I heard you needed food."

"Are the siblings fine?"

"Yes, they are, you hen-dad. They are sleeping as we speak."

"Good."

Annabeth and Grover giggled, and even Thalia cracked a smile. Zoe kept glaring at the shadow. And the boy. And the satyr. And… Wait, how did she manage to do that with only two eyes?

Anyway, Skià made some food appear in front of everybody, and took PJ further to chat a second.

Then they teleported on the ship.

"Mom is worried about us… About the divided soul thing."

"Tell her we'll fuse once we can, okay?"

"What would happen to me?"

"If you don't know, then I don't know, but I'm starting to think that I am not truly Percy Jackson, you know, I am only his half… So I guess once we become one again, we will be the culmination of those two beings. We both will exist, and maybe not totally. But the puzzle shall be complete once more."

"I'm also starting to wonder if the armor thing is good, I mean, that is a fusion."

"Not a complete one. Personally, I'm just starting to wonder if our soul will shatter, or worse, if our united body will be able to take the amount of power."

"Problematic, isn't it?"

"It is, my friend."

"We both know we're more than that."

They laughed when PJ said:

"And putting that out of the context make it mean something else entirely!"

PJ was still laughing when he understood that he was no longer on his boat.

"What's so funny, boy?", asked Jessica.

"Inside joke", said PJ, and somehow that made him laugh even harder.

They ended their breakfast (except PJ who was in no state to eat right now), and let Zoe lead. She was walking side by side with Phoebe and Jessica, and the four others were behind.

It means that the huntresses were calmly chatting but the group behind was laughing hard.

It took them time to enter the garden. Seriously, the more she went into quest, the more Annabeth began to hate walking. Little, she was on the run, yes, but years at camp habitude her to faster ways of transportation.

The garden was truly a master piece, and once they entered, PJ became literally a hyperactive young boy. He was running everywhere, speaking so fast that nobody understood him.

What they caught is "Mother is here"

Annabeth frowned in realization of what was happening. She came close to her friends and began to say, whispering:

"He can't hold the sky, due to his family. Being there is just making him an earthling at a hole different level."

Thalia nodded and Grover just paled. Skià was in their back and whispered:

"You are so lucky none of the Olympians are hearing here, Annabeth. It would be a disaster with what you said."

"Oh. How come you're not affected?"

"I am. So, don't turn around, will you?"

They did.

And gods! Skià was huge! The shadow that made his body was now pierced with diamonds, and other rare metals. His eyes were glowing brown, like a fire that could easily take a house down. He looked like twenty feet tall.

He quickly disappeared, but everybody noticed how happy he seemed.

Both side of Percy Jackson were now looking under acid, instead of turning under salt water.

"Okay. Now what's happening?", asked Zoe.

Jessica and Phoebe nodded in agreement. It was clear to them that he was a child of the sea, but now… Sea wasn't that far, but he had been nearest, without being in this… state.

The three friends looked at one another, and said altogether:

"He will never tire"

"Not here", added Annabeth.

A silence came, broken by Grover (And PJ trying to jump over twenty feet, and somehow doing it):

"When is night coming?"

"Never, it's the garden of the sunset."

All three campers sighed in recomfort. They really didn't need him to be powered by his aunt too right now.

Suddenly, Percy was in front of them, and he poked Annabeth's nose

"You're the cat!"

He then ran faster than humanly possible.

"Boys" sighed Annabeth, making the huntresses smirk, "does someone has a hammer? Or a battle axe? Or anything heavy? There is a running PJ I need to hunt right now."

Then PJ came back, walking (for once), and said.

"Ooh… I'm back. What did I do when I was overwhelmed?"

"You was a hyperactive four years old."

"I shape shifted?!"

"No, you didn't, boy. Why would you do that?", said Jessica

"Nothing... Did anything weird happen?"

"You mean… Aside from-", began Grover

"Yes, Grover. You know what I mean."

"No", said Thalia, "happily".

PJ seemed so relieved, right now. It was like telling him… that… Oh, I know! Like telling him food could be blue and edible!

Wait…

"Well, if you're calmed, why don't we go up.", said Zoe, as if she was talking to a child.

"Yeah, about that… I won't be able to hold the sky."

"I had guessed, boy…"

"Not because of what you think."

"What do you mean?", asked Phoebe, strangely calm.

"All in due time."

Very nicely done, Thought PJ. Now you seem even more suspect.

They finally reached the tree of the golden apples.

Ladon was asleep. A Hesperides came forward, opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut by PJ.

"Yeah, I know, familial drama, blah blah blah, you can't come back, watch me doing so, etcetera. Can we pass? I'm sure Ladon wouldn't mind, right buddy?"

To everybody's amazement, Ladon woke up, sniffed PJ, and then returned to his slumber after one head made a noise.

"He doesn't mind! Now, I have to kick your father's ass with the help of a friend of mine, make him see what pain truly is, and make that as my second war-related deity that fears me. Bye!"

"What did he say?", asked Annabeth to PJ.

"Ladon? He wished me good luck."

"Oh. So you have that power too."

"Can we not stop about it right now? There is my second least favorite goddess in earshot right now."

"Who is last?" asked Zoe to stop her friends from maiming the strange demigod.

"Aphrodite"

"Not Hera?", asked Thalia.

"No, she basically has the same problem than your mother, Annabeth. If she made peace with her own family, the world would be way more stable."

"Athena always has a plan", said Annabeth in a low voice, "Hera does not"

"That is where you are mistaken, but let's change our subject, where is the goddess in chain… Here she is!"

"Boy, you might want to step aside while I help my lady.", said Zoe gently (no? Nobody believed that? Oh, shoot!)

He stepped aside, watching the fortress.

"Oh, that means trouble. Coordinates saved. I'll have to make one or two suborbital strikes."

"Wait, you can make that?", asked a new voice. Everybody turned around to see Luke.

"Oh shi… cago?", said PJ.

Then he stared at Luke:

"Why did you bath in _her_ waters, Luke? Did you only pray to her before? That's rude you know!"

Luke paled. Annabeth paled. Artemis was still on the suborbital strike problem. That boy held way too much power for her own liking.

"S-So it is true, then. Kronos was right about you…"

"Time is a bad master, Luke, but a good informant."

"Wait wait wait. What is happening?", asked Zoe, still untying Artemis.

Said goddess killing with her eyes the young demigod.

A new voice was laughing. Atlas entered the scene.

"Hello, dear family members…"

"Atlas, if you care about your sanity, you'll stop right there", said Giant-Skià from behind them.

PJ looked happy as ever.

"Skià? Let's make a second Ares."

"Oh, yes."

The two stepped in one another (it looked way less dirty that it sounds), and fused.

A new giant was on the game, and it took slowly Atlas, who couldn't really fight back, as rocks and shadows alike began to tie him up.

The original bearer of the sky used all his power, even trying to take hi true form, not damaging the monster a little bit. Percy Jackson was unfazed by the shouts, the hits with swords appearing out of nowhere.

After what seemed to be an hour, Atlas' ascent was coming to an end. Now, his fall could finally begin.

Atlas looked in the creature's eyes. And he looked into Tartarus.

He was in Tartarus.

He was watching himself, he was understanding what the meaning of this world was.

This world was about pain. He was just another pawn in a game that was higher than time against fate, or even the universe itself.

To say his body ache seemed to be like saying water could make something a bit wet.

It was evident.

He had been lying to himself all his life, trying to look the best, to show his power…

He was so powerless against this.

He was so powerless.

He began to plead:

"Let me go!"

He began to cry:

"Please! For everything that's good's sake!"

He began to get the idea:

"Just let me die! Make me mortal, kill me!"

He finished his fall.

As soon as he hit the floor, he jumped under the sky. Torture could do that.

He held it and tried to kick Artemis out.

"Let it to me! Let it to me!"

Then he said something that may or may not have shock Artemis.

"It's so much better than ruling! Let me have my punishment!"

Artemis let the weight go, and to her surprise, he seemed to catch his breath, smiling like a youngling that just earned what his heart desired.

Luke was backing up, one step after the other. The monstrosity was marching forward.

Luke ended up on a cliff, and tried to jump, only to be caught by the monstrosity.

" **YOU. FAIR FIGHT"**

He then fell on grass. Without the curse, his bones would probably have already snapped three times now, and he stood against his opponent.

Which soon disappeared to let Percy fight with Nyx's sword.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

The sky stopped turning around it's pillar for a second.

That means as long as the fight last.

Percy wasn't especially strong. He was stronger than your average teenager, but that was it.

He had something else.

Fighting against him was like fighting against water. He didn't block any strike, and to say he dodge would be an understatement. He was moving, fast.

He kept moving around Luke, striking in his back, and without the curse the goddess was sure he would have looked like a… meatball?

Luke then needed a favor. So, time stopped around Percy. Luke having enough of this boy just made his sword go through his heart. Backbiter began to eat his soul.

But there was no soul to eat. It looked like Percy Jackson wasn't in his body right now.

The empty shell fell on the floor, and Luke left. He had already lost too much.

Annabeth was pretty sure she shouted something, and that she was currently running to the corpse.

Only to find nothing in the grass. As is earth had taken the body back.

To say Gaia was pissed against her son (in this case plural could also apply) was like saying fire burns a bit.

Hestia was here too, watching carefully the corpse on the bed.

His facial expression was one of a kind, like if everything was going like planned.

A shadow appeared.

Tartarus was here.

He hugged his wife, while making sure he didn't cry.

Another shadow appeared.

"Missed me?", asked Skià.

He didn't dodge the slap

 _And I dindn't dodge the clap!_

 _The chapter ends at least half of Percy i alive! That means he can fulfill his promise to Hades! And yes, this kind of things happen when you fight against time itself. You lose, badly. Unless you are fate. Oh boy, this thematic is a bit new to me, fate against time. Ananke will be back, don't worry._

 _As for PJ, well... I hope you preferred Skià?_


	16. Not the beginning but another one

_So. Last chapter, PJ died, but Skià stayed alive. Let's find out if that is enough to bring the complete Percy Jackson back._

* * *

Skià was grounded. And when you're the son of mother earth, that sucks. What his parents didn't understand, what they failed to comprehend was that Luke just killed a body. Skià was still alive, and he wasn't just a creation of his counterpart. He was half of Percy Jackson. He was a shadow, he was his shadow.

In fact, he had an idea of how to bring PJ back. But first, he had to listen to the discussion (*cough* tantrum *cough*) of his family.

Hestia was mortified, Gaia was shell-socked, Tartarus was… Hey, it's hard to read a shadow's emotion when they're not speaking! Nyx was touching the corpse head as if it would do anything.

::So, Skià, I guess I'm stuck here, right?::, asked a voice in his head.

Skià might have jumped.

::Okay, who are you?::

::I'm already forgotten? That hurts::

::As much as a sword in the heart?::

::I don't know, I left my body when I sensed time slowing down.::

::By the way, how did you do that?::

::That… I'm not entirely sure… I kinda shadow traveled… But for souls.::

::Soul travel?::

::You said it!::

::Should I tell them, or…::

"Skià, why are you grinning like that?", asked Nyx.

:: Guess you have your answer::, said PJ.

"Oh, you are crying over an empty corpse."

"Yes, we know.", said Tartarus.

"No soul inside…"

"We know that", said Gaia.

"I have the entirety of the soul"

"That means?"

"I have in me both sides of Percy Jackson. The body is just a shell, I kinda see no point in crying over it. Should we repair it, PJ?"

::Go for it. Don't want Annabeth to kill us."

"he said yes."

Both sides of Percy Jackson extended their left arm on the soul plane.

Water in the dead body began to move. Blood began to circulate, lungs began to work in a very mechanic way. The bruises and scars began to close, disappear, and heal.

Then it came to regenerate the cells. What is cool about being a son of Tartarus is that you become properly uneatable for microorganism. So no rotting corpse to bring back to live.

Proteins resumed their move, liquids making them fix everything. The neurons began to reassemble with one another following the pattern of PJ half soul. Then, when everything was over, PJ soul-travelled inside his own body.

To say he was aching was like saying…

Was like saying.

He was in hell. And having lived in Tartarus most of his life, it was hard to be worse.

Don't worry, it was. They may have healed his cells, but the organs as ensembles seemed to reject one another, and healing this body better seemed properly impossible.

On the other side of the newly strengthen connection, Skià tried to use Hestia's powers to make his counterpart find a little rest. Unused to them, he just managed to make the antidepressant's industry lose half of its worth. And to properly faint.

"Well, thanks Skià, at least you tried.", said PJ.

His voice was… lifeless, really. He began slowly to stand, moving his back as if every movement hurt him. On the contrary, his arms were still continually moving around him, helping him like separate entities.

When he was up, he opened his eyes. They were white, like snow.

Skià melted in the shadows and left the room.

He reappeared in camp, where nobody has returned yet. He was greeted by the both siblings of Hades, who tackled him with a hug.

"Skià, are you alright?"

"I'm just a bit tired… I did just use a power of mine too much, and failed."

"Oh. Do you know what happened to the quest?", asked Bianca, "I heard they succeeded but they're not back yet."

"They should be on Olympus right now. I'll go check after I train you two"

"Why would they be on Olympus?", asked Nico.

"That's what happens when you save Olympians.", said Skià in a bitter voice. "Come on, now. I'm gonna teach you how to… throw a knife properly."

And he simply did that. He taught them how to throw a knife, while coping with the events.

A shadow is hard to read, so as an outside viewer, he could seem unfazed by the events. But in the inside, he was boiling.

PJ was more than a brother to him, it was like his twin or something! And now his body was out. Sure, he survived a direct hit to the heart. Well, he resurrected from one. But Skià knew. He knew what his… his other side was feeling. Two sides of the same coin. Make one sink, the other follow.

He had tried to help PJ, while he was time stopped, and he tried to help him s much as he could. But that wasn't enough. He wasn't enough. They were two sides of the same coin, and one side was beginning to fear power. And the other lacked it.

He tried to remain strong, for the siblings. That failed. Oh, of course he made it, he convinced them that nothing wrong was happening. But he didn't convince the real target: himself.

The body was complete. His brother was safe. But it didn't work anymore as a body. The inner harmony, the inner clock stopped. And they could turn the gears all they wanted, it wouldn't be like before.

Sure, on the outside, it could seem like a good deal. And from a point of view, it is. But that completely change when you realize that… death is sometimes better than pain. Just that kind of pain, maybe… But he couldn't let his own brother like this. He couldn't let his self like that.

He had to… To find a way. Oh, Tartarus, how simpler his body were. You can try to say what you want, but a shadow doesn't' have an inner harmony. No organs, no link to the world, no…

Wait…

The curse of Achille.

Skià knew his brother's organs were rejecting each other. Maybe a modified version of the curse could heal him. If you make the organs that resistant, that they don't need to protect themselves anymore… there can't be reject, right? So the only thing you have to do is build the defense down…

::Wow, dude. You know I know what you're thinking about, right?::

:: It's the only way to…::

::Hah! Don't worry. I'm fine, really.::

::You can't lie to me, you know that::

::I'm not lying to you. The body is getting better and better! ::

::Right. You know it's going back to its normal state way after your death at this rhythm, right?::

::The rhythm could increase!::

::Or decrease::

::Oh, come on. Don't be like mom::

::Is she okay?::

::Well, I'm grounded::

::So she's fine!::

::Yeah? I'm more worried about you… You left while still grounded! ::

::Take my shift::

::I hate you::

::Sure, sure, whatever you say::

His train of thought derailed due to the descendant of Hades interrupting him by showing him their target. They hit a bull eye, much to Percy's pride.

They then did once again a battle training in the arena. It was part of his everyday life.

Of course, some very disturbing daughter of Aphrodite were watching. Skià wasn't sure. Were they her for Nico, for Bianca or… for him? Yeah, well, once he was finished, he left, so hearing hearsays wasn't exactly a possibility to him.

Once training was over, Skià went to Hades. He still had to make sure of the date when he would want his children back.

"Lord Hades. Hello."

"Hello, Skià. You don't seem so great today."

You can always count on Hades to read a shadow.

"Yeah, the… my… PJ got hurt, and his body might be out for a while."

"From what?"

"Sword in the heart because of Chronos."

"Oh. How come he is alive?"

"Soul travel."

"He shattered his soul in some receptacle?"

"Yes. Is this related, somehow?"

"It's needed."

"So horcruxes are needed to make one's soul travel."

The boat was having a nice time. That is the conclusion PJ reached. He had finally somehow managed to link himself to the boat (*cough* soul travel *cough*) and was currently making a simulated battle against the princess Andromeda.

Wait. That was no dream.

Oh gods, he was really fighting against the princess Andromeda.

His shields were taking a toll, but so did the adversaries shield.

His bullets, and his canons were better. His ship's speed was higher.

Until Kronos interfered.

Princess Andromeda was now in fast forward.

Cool. So were the bullets, fireball, spells, cans of cheap soda (really?).

The shields were going down. So did a lever.

And with a "plop" looking like a middle finger, the ship went back to regain energy.

Tartarus is hell. It's hot, nobody wants to be there, so nobody works here.

That made the reparations faster.

Kronos was still reforming somewhere away, but He was not currently seeing the boat.

Poseidon stopped seeing it too, by the way. With a sigh, he asked Dolphin to make a report.

He would have to show it tonight at the council.

For important matters about a quest, the demigods were allowed to spend a night at Olympus while waiting for the council. Olympus wanted to be sure that the information wouldn't spread if they decided to… you know, make them… not dead…. But… okay, yes in case they wanted them dead.

Too bad, ladies and lords, too bad.

Now, one of the demigod was already dead, so it would go nicely.

* * *

In Tartarus, PJ made a construct of ice, and used fire to make it moved. He made his own body go to self-induced coma, before travelling to the other body. The ice construct then decided his suit, before showing downstairs.

"Aunty Nyx, can you please tell mom I went to Olympus to make my report?"

"It's just Nyx for you, young man!"

As rocks began to gather around the new body, PJ realized that maybe his mother might have overheard him.

"And you want to go with this body?", asked a calm voice behind him.

"I have to go. And I won't with a body half destroyed. I have to show them that I'm not weak, mom. I must show Chronos' spies that he can't mess with me and roam around freely."

"If they threaten you anyway!"

"This body blows up, and my natural one wakes up with a weird dream about ice."

"Don't worry, dear,", said Tartarus to his wife, "our son got this. Son, make me proud, even if I already am."

"Got this, dad!"

Skià appeared, and said:

"Now we match!"

"Skià, can you take me up?"

"How up?"

"600"

They both blinked and in a wave of shadows they went to the annual meeting.

* * *

"I declare this council opened."

A wave of shadows went through the room, and left Skià and his equivalent of ice in the center of the room, not far from Annabeth.

"I'm not late, am I?", asked the ice construct, "I had a little problem with the ship, so I did not see the hour turn."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Both embodiment looked at each other like if the question was stupid, before Skià answered

"I am Skià".

"And I am PJ… I'm pretty sure you've already heard of us, Zeus."

A gasp went through the room, and Hestia jumped to her adoptive son.

"Are you Okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, _mom_."

PJ then bend his body on the side and dodged Annabeth's punch.

* * *

 _I resurrected PJ. Wow._

 _Of course this will have consequences. Not the absence of half of Percy Jackson, not yet, at least. No. But it will. It's a whole new character arc. The rebuilt. Have a nice week-end!_


	17. Some boring ice-revenant

Let's see how Olympus reacted to PJ still being alive, will you?

* * *

Artemis had an arrow ready.

Hermes was depressed by the thought of how much work that would mean.

Aphrodite thought that maybe her mascara could use more blue.

Dionysus drooled as habitually over some wine he would never get.

Athena was wondering why was PJ here.

Hades was happy to have a friendly face around.

Hephaistos wondered if ice was nice on his next automaton.

Ares was trying to stay strong. His whole manliness was used that evening.

Hestia was happy to find her ''son '' alive.

Hera wondered if the child had her husband as a father. The same taste for dramatic entrances.

Apollo was currently happy his sister was well, and that was everything he wanted.

Poseidon wondered where he went after last time a council about PJ was going on.

Demeter was wondering if the body of ice ate enough cereals.

Zeus was horrified and his thoughts were a bit like: "enemy, enemy…" and go on.

And now let's see how the demigods reacted.

Zoe had an arrow ready.

Phoebe had an arrow ready.

Jessica had an arrow ready.

Annabeth had an… oops. No. Annabeth had a dagger ready.

Skià was secretly leaving.

Grover went nut. And he may have fainted. Damn, that council was short. Wait, why is this morning already? Isn't this the longest night? Because it lasted for… like ten minutes.

Thalia was shocked. And shocking. Small lightnings kept shocking some people in the audience.

Chaos erupted.

* * *

"PJ… Why are you here", asked Zeus in a forced politeness.

"Wait, did I miss the night where we show reports of the quest? I really thought it was tonight…"

" _Boy_ , you will speak with respect.", said Artemis.

"Then I would only speak to… like… half of the council?"

"You shall respect us.", continued Hera.

"Oh, but I respect you, lady Hera. You're not perfect, but at least you do your job… Let me say that better. At least you do A job."

"What are your intentions?", asked Athena.

"I don't know… Show the old man to back off? And no, Zeus, I don't speak about you, please calm down."

Zeus brought his accusative finger back.

"Do you really think you can come here and disrespect us?", kept going Artemis.

"Look, Artemis. I know I can't leave Olympus alive unless you let me. But if you want to bring me down, I would do to you all the very same thing I did to Atlas."

"What did you do to him, by the way?", asked Athena.

"Simple. I taught him how to write world. P.A.I.N."

"How do we know you're not lying?", asked Apollo.

"What!? You can't see if…"

"No; you're blocking me"

"I don't do it on purpose, then. Probably because my body is still healing."

Then Apollo nodded, and everybody calmed. Just joking, nobody calmed.

But Zeus called everybody back to order, and was about to ask a vote to know if the boy should either live or die, but it had already been done… so… Nope, not _yet_. So, he asked the quest members to tell him what happened, and they took approximately thirty minutes.

"I have a question", said Athena, and as everybody calmed, she simply asked: "Who is your family?"

"Some people under the protection of Hestia. Except Skià. You could consider Skià as my brother."

"He is a monster", said Zeus matter-of-factly.

"No more than you.", said Skià.

"I had enough", said Zeus. "You should show us some respect, you two. Now we will discuss punishment."

Both '' brother '' laughed at this.

"Zeus, you can't be serious.", began Skià.

"We are your only chance in the war against Chronos." Finished PJ.

"Plus we already showed we were very resistant."

"So, now, we'll make our exit."

"And don't forget, Olympians, your family is your only strength."

A wave of darkness flowed the throne room before anybody could react, and both disrespectful children were gone.

* * *

After all, they had Christmas to prepare.

In Tartarus' family, celebrating Christmas was… new.

Well, celebrating was, in general.

Nyx was in the living room with some of her children that swore secrecy (that included Styx), giving them gifts etcetera. For the occasion, Hecate was invited, and her gift was making said room go bigger.

Gaia was making her famous pie, a pie with the best fruits all over earth. Of course, she didn't make one pie, but approximately 25. Some of her children were invited, like Rhea, but none showed up. She didn't take it badly.

Tartarus was breathable for one week, and that was a veritable true gift.

* * *

Percy Jackson was back both in his body and in one body. Even if he had to excuse himself sometimes to recreate a liver that worked, he managed to stay in this state during all the celebrations. He obtained some teleporting pearls, a book about architecture, etcetera.

At one point, he Iris mailed his friends (from his boat, of course).

"PJ", began Grover, "where are you?"

"Australia, actually. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas.", answered Annabeth.

"Do you know how much you infuriated my father last time?", asked Thalia.

"Yes, I know. The aeries are after me to make me face the ''justice '' of Olympus."

"So, you won't come to camp?", asked Nico.

"Nah, don't worry, I'll manage. After all, in ten days I have to make you both meet your dad! 'Might be a bit late though."

"How will you do this?"

"Really Annabeth? Going to the realm of the dead is a lot easier with this ship than going to Australia."

"Yeah. Well, you left before it happened, but I joined the Huntresses."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, well… There is still the prophecy, and since I turned 16 today, if I become immortal, I wouldn't be the child of the prophecy!"

"Thalia, what prophecy?"

"You didn't hear about the prophecy of the big three?"

"OH. So that's it. Who is the second one asked to join Artemis' Hunt? "

"What?", asked Nico.

" _Two will be offered to change side._

 _One will agree, not out of pride.",_

recited Percy.

A silence grew as everybody let sink this information.

"Well, then, merry Christmas, PJ", sighed Annabeth.

"Merry Christmas.", said Nico

"Same", said Thalia.

"happy holidays!", finished Grover.

* * *

The rainbow disappeared as Percy started wondering why wasn't Bianca in this call.

The ship went back to Tartarus while Percy was… lost in his thought. It was the second time in the three last prophecies that Delphi said something about a betrayal, that ended up being very different from his own expectations.

He joined his family to lunch (way too much), still thinking.

"So." Said an 8 years old, "a drachma for your thoughts?"

"No, aunty Hestia."

He didn't need to look at her to see disappointment.

"Ok, you win. It's just, Delphi is talking a lot about betrayal these last times… I don't know if either yes or no we should… expect something…"

"Delphi always talk about betrayal", pointed the last Olympian.

"Not in this way!", answered Percy. "let's take the prophecy of the big three, it says Olympus to preserve or raze. It doesn't even say that the hero of this prophecy will know which choice make what… And it doesn't mean that the Olympians will fall either. For all we know, it could announce a big renovation of the city!"

"You forget the cursed blade, and this kind of stuff."

"And the endless sleep", said Nyx who just joined.

"This could just mean that, I don't know, Morpheus goes rogue, or anything!"

"So you think we shouldn't worry about the big prophecy?"

"I don't say that. I think we should worry more about the new ones. There is no rule telling us that their activation span is only the quest, hell it could just be an event. And they become always clearer about what is going to happen. I fear that one day, the oracle will just reveal one way or another the truth about… all this. "

"Oh, come on, Percy, It's going to be okay!", said Hestia.

"You should agree that he kinda makes a point, here.", said Nyx.

She earned a glare.

"Oh, come on, Olympian, don't look at me like that! The only way the night lie is by hiding the truth, not by making one see something else!"

"That is why you have like, one hundred dream-children?"

"I hate you."

"Wow, Aunty Nyx… Calm down, okay?"

"It's just Nyx, damnit!"

"Yes, yes… "

"You shouldn't worry,", said Hestia. "prophecies have proven to be easily misunderstood, and in the end, what should happen will happen."

"Thanks Aunty Hestia."

"You're welcome!"

"The brat was being sarcastic", enlightened Nyx.

"I'm not a brat, Nyx…"

"I was talking about Hestia."

In camp, everybody was enjoying the warmth of Hestia's temple. It spread around, making the weather look like a summer one. Eventually, it ended at the barrier of the camp.

Far away, but not that much, a boat was watching. And the boat was named after a princess.

Christmas passed. New year passed. Welcome to 2008, everybody!

Percy Jackson decided to offer his parents a trip on his boat, and they made a trip around the world in two months.

When they arrived near Alaska, it became clear that the trip was over, so they made the boat go back to hell, and after deposing his parents, Percy began to explore once again.

* * *

Percy was occupied about how the last battle against Andromeda went. It could not happen again.

Next stop, camp.

But for now, since he was not far from the west coast… He had some coordinates to enter in some happy fireworks.

That is how Oggygia gained the "missiles of Damocles", that means some magic missiles frozen in time above the rebuilding city, banning it from height in the sky. This was completely unfair, by the way, since Damocles had nothing to do with these weapons, and he completely became an active pacifist in the underworld!

Percy realized that maybe it would be nice to have a crew on this boat. And maybe some others boat too! Imagine, if each boat had the firepower of this one, he could have an all mighty armada!

And a lot of headaches controlling all those boats, yes…

Plus, it wasn't like every boat could do it, it needed to have a celestial bronze hull at least, to have been considered as Home by somebody…

The ship reappeared near New York… when Skià appeared.

"Next time do me a favor and don't pick me as your personal messenger…"

"Rachel called?"

"Rachel called."

"Well, let's do this!"

Rachel was bored. And afraid. Maybe more afraid than bored. There was a monster out there… is that a dog? Is that a fish? No, that is ugly.

And really disturbing.

"Okay, Skià? If you listen… I might want PJ's help…"

Nothing happened, for three seconds. Rachel was about to give up, when a wave of darkness went through the room, unnoticed by the mortals present.

"Hello, Rachel. Good to see you too."

"PJ?"

They were at a café, where Rachel was sometimes going to meet with her friends from the art club.

"I'll sit down. Skià, do you want anything?"

A shadow appeared at the right of PJ. Its eyes were burning with a purple light. On some areas, rocks could be seen coming out of the body, making plates.

"No, I have work to do. Bye."

"Bye."

"And don't forget to take care of yourself."

The shadow popped seemingly out of existence.

Percy coughed like his own lungs were willing to leave his body by the nose (which was the case, by the way).

"Sorry, I'm still a bit sore from a previous battle."

"You do battle? Why would that have made you cough?"

"Yes, I do. Last time, I had a near death approach, so of course my organs have some… problems. By the way, how's your day?"

"Oh, fine… Well, until there was this monster around."

She looked around, and the monster had seemingly disappeared.

"Oh. Ok, describe it."

"A human looking dog with fish-like hands."

"Telekhine."

"Do you know every monster?"

"Knowledge is power, young lady. And power increase your chances of survival", said PJ in a fake serious tone.

"Still. Well, Now that you're here, can you explain what the fuck is happening?"

"Language, lady."

And Percy explained to her what being a demigod is, and so go on.

"And Skià? Is he a monster?"

"No… Well, you could argue with that, but Skià is… something different. The first and probably the last of his kind. He is like my twin, or something."

"Oh. I thought you two were together, you know?"

PJ laughed, and drunk a cup of warm coffee.

"Where did you get that?"

"The coffee?"

"Yes."

"Oh, sorry. Take one."

A cup appeared in front of Rachel to her amazement.

"Wow, that is a useful power, especially when you work late at night. So, you have the benediction of the god of coffee?"

PJ laughed, and made some pastries come out of thin air.

"Goddess of home."

He picked one and ate it.

So did Rachel.

* * *

Clarisse looked at Chris, who had seemingly lost his sanity. They tried to interrogate him, but he just kept repeating:

"The endless maze lead to some hell… The endless maze lead to some hell… The endless maze... lead to some hell…"

* * *

 _Oho! Well, book 4 in view. I know what you think._

 _I'm late, as always._

 _Yes, but that's not what I meant._

 _I said that I won't be following the book tracks anymore._

 _Believe me, I won't. The endless maze will have a twist to it, that could end up... interestingly. Fot those who wants to know, yes, I'll include the romans later in the story. I loved that part of the Percyverse, as well as the others, even if, of course, Percy won't be Hera's pawn. For once. I already said enough, so see you!_

(PS: don't hesitate to comment!)

V2.0


	18. Quite literally too much power

Rachel sighed.

« Well, here's my number, just… call me if you need me okay? »

"You know, escaping your problems won't solve them, right? I mean, you are trying to get away from your dad, I can feel it. I will call you, don't worry and it will be easier than for you to call me directly, but remember, you should confront your dad. Tell him you aren't only his daughter, but a part of his family, and that you feel rejected. Tell him what you think about his economics system. O, and by the way, you should follow my advice. It's not because a home is big that it must be empty. Bring friends with you!"

Then PJ left the café by the door, using his connection with the ship to know where it is. He joined it on the dock, and soon they were back on track.

Rain began to fall, as Percy' appearance didn't go unnoticed by the king of gods. That made him chuckle, as the rain just bounced of the shield, not damaging its energy state whatsoever.

For once, Percy used only the sails to travel, as he wanted to save energy for his intrusion to the whine god's domain. Sure, camp wasn't a neutral place (not as a certain ship that could teleport), but he needed to go there.

He arrived near the coast of long island. Then camp came to view, and with the sun setting down the view was downright beautiful. The scenery made golden light in the late winter reflect on the freezingly cold water of the see, merging blue and orange together in the best way.

Clouds were for a lot in it, and it seemed that even the power of Zeus could destroy the harmony of this. They reflected the light, making it turn purple by some places, and just hiding enough of the sun to stay watchable without being blind in two seconds. Percy sat a moment, before he hit sand.

Of course, without the unnatural speed, the boat would get stopped before even hitting the beach, but Percy didn't expect it to be so soon. He thanked the sea gods and goddesses of the sea, and left without looking back his boat, jumping in the water.

A wave washed him backward, as the sea filled the place where the boat was.

He began to swim, oblivious of the currents helping him to regain the shore. Once on the sand, he just spread the fire thorough his body and went to the forest.

For once, he didn't feel like sleeping in his boat, or anywhere really, so he just sat under a tree and slept.

He was awoken by some harpies circling him. He released a bit of his aura (a pure waste of power habitually), and sat down, watching them flee the depth of Tartarus.

Hestia was here. So was a fire, a little representation of the Hearth, a little part of the flame of the civilization.

"Hello, PJ."

"Hello, Hestia."

"What are you doing far from everything you call home?"

"Oh, please tell me you're not watching me sleep every night to ensure I stay protected, right?"

"This body is still under some organics failure, a large part of your cells functions only because you force them to, and are waiting to disappear."

"You're watching me sleep every night."

That didn't sound like a question.

"Well yes."

"Is there any other reason you are here."

"As a matter of fact, yes I do. I want you to create a quest to find Daedalus."

"Why so?"

"You will want to have him by your side."

"he's gonna betray Olympus, and you want to use me as a negotiator, because I have already proven to know what people wants. The fact that the thunder is not falling right now, and that you have hidden this mean that Zeus either approve, or has asked this to you, and in both case, made you want to create a team just to see if I can be trusted, to see if I won't use the opportunity to join the titans, in that case the thunder would blast me right away, with all the powers of Olympus, because the council knows or at least knows partially how much of a threat I am. Athena is against this plan, and will do anything to block me because pride is her downfall. Am I right?"

"Y… yes?"

"Good, then let me continue. From what I know about this situation, the only way to get Athena out of my way is to let a person she trusts in the group. That's why it's a quest and not a mission. A child of Athena, most probably, will have to join my quest or I am doomed to fail, that is what the oracle will say when I will ask a prophecy. She could have only asked and I would have asked Annabeth to tag along, you know?"

"I do… but"

"but she doesn't."

"Yes. Why are you so analytic tonight?"

"Well, first it's nighttime, so Skià is boosted, then I didn't have any nightmare yet, which means I am not as tired as always. Finally, I am under both your and your temple's influence. I am kinda always influenced to have a lot more powers than I should, you know…"

"How much time do I have before the Olympians ask officially for this quest?"

"Two weeks. What do I answer?"

"Yes, if for once, Zeus isn't about to kill me."

"Ok!"

A silence grew awkwardly.

"… Well, then I'll just let you rest. Sleep well, child."

PJ wanted to tell her thanks, but he blinked, and when his eyes opened it was morning.

Good. He woke up, tried to make the dust go away from his clothes, before giving up.

He had two siblings to make go to the underground the quick way.

The quick way being by boat, of course. Seriously, if you have ever heard Charon talking, you know how slow the dying process takes to actually go to the underground…

He found them rather quickly.

But took ten minutes to actually talk to them, as he spent much time coughing blood, lungs, and maybe stomach as well.

Percy never had been a good healer, but he managed to stop the bleeding (from both the water and blood in his body, since being the son of Tartarus always made using these fluids easier), then to close his internal wounds by cauterizing them. Which hurts.

Back on track, PJ just had to say kiddos, it's time, to have two children on his boat in no Chronos. Which is good, right?

Actually describing a warp to the underground, and a convincing that no, they weren't any threat to Persephone's relationship with her husband, PJ was out.

He really didn't stay underground for long, as his insides felt like burning.

Not from pain, but from power.

Percy was in deep thoughts.

And maybe he was too deep. Because he had just passed Scotland.

He groaned at his own stupidity, and began once more to set his cap. Now, he had a complete ocean to cross-by!

Oh, and he had to get the two siblings home.

The boat answered his every will, making the sail move, making the ropes go on.

Wind began to press once more against the sail, and soon, he reached once more the speed of the air around him. Percy looked around, only to notice that it was indeed already the end of night.

* * *

"Hello, nephew."

"Aunty Nyx!"

"It's still Nyx to you, young bo.."

Nyx was then cut by a hug from her nephew.

"So, how are you?"

"You are asking a primordial how she is?"

"Yes?"

"Good to know. I'm fine."

"Why shouldn't I exactly ask you how you are?"

"You didn't reach land in a week."

"A week? Man, I was really lost in thoughts!"

I the captain room, a lever was pulled down, and the ship made two jumps, one to join hell, and one to join the east cost of America. They were in Miami, that even in the early spring was at a warm temperature. Percy soon docked the boat and turned to his aunt.

"So… Why are you here?"

"Your mother was worried."

"Isn't she always?"

"She hasn't always been."

"Yeah, I heard about the time she just made children to anger Olympians. But she's over it, now, right? So why is she worried?"

"She is afraid you begin to fear touching land."

"Oh, come on…"

"And if I must say so, I think you are avoiding anything that gives you power."

"I'm literally on the sea all the time!"

"Yet never at home, and you have fully avoided me by teleporting for three days… You didn't touch land in a week…"

"I am just really tired is all!"

"Yeah, and I'm Zeus in disguise."

"We both know he can't access this ship without my permission."

"A mortal restraining gods. I would have seen everything!"

"Don't be like this, Aunty!"

"Nyx", cut the said goddess.

"I'm not trying to avoid power sources, or anything! I'm fine on my own."

"How did you feed yourself?"

"What?"

"Hestia contacted us. She said you didn't use your powers to generate food for a week, now."

"I did! Man, no wonder I'm hungry! Oh, and Next time, thank Hestia but tell her that…"

"That what?", asked a new voice. Hestia. Just Percy's luck!

"You've been keeping tabs on me."

"I did only want to ensure that you ate enough. I have to agree with my sister on this one, you desperately need some cereals…"

"Hera is a fan of cereals?", asked Percy in an ironic tone.

"Cut the sass!"

Hestia had just grabbed arm, filling him with calming waves.

Percy panicked while sensing energy flow through his body.

His organs began to work normally again, as said by the stomach, in the empty stomach language that is this annoying bunch of noises.

Percy moved backward, trying to free himself from the grab of his aunt.

Eventually, as he was about to free himself, she gained approximatively 15 years until she was fully adult, and able to hold him stronger.

His body was healed, and the energy went stocking itself.

Percy felt his body become warm, then hot, then burning, then he began to glow.

It was like lava, like…

Veins of pure light began to dig their way in his skin. They reached the torso and then spread through the hole body, until finally making a complex network of circles of light.

Then, they began to look like they would erupt, and that was enough to stop Hestia from holding him any longer.

He then began to cool off, being unable to use water for the process.

"What happened to you?", asked Nyx.

"Ha… Guess you hadn't seen everything, then!", said a weak Percy.

He fell flat on the bridge.

Percy's weak voice, barely over a whisper, kept going.

"The nature of essence is truly wonderful. It is the main component of a soul. And generally, the more essence you have, the more power you can output. And if you receive power, then, your levels of essence grow."

A sigh.

"There are, however, limits. A mortal can't take a godly power as his own. A god can't take a full Primordial essence."

"Then how did Kronos?"

"Don't know, and don't care, right now. I am at my limit. If I go any further, I become as powerful as a major god."

"That's good, right? You could become...", began Hestia with Hope.

"A bomb."

"Immortal?", finished the goddess of hearth.

"A bomb", repeated PJ.

Nyx looked thoughtful.

"Couldn't you just soul-travel out of it and make t explode in the middle of nowhere?", asked the primordial.

"Aunty Nyx, if it was that easy… Powers are linked to the soul, I think. That's why even while travelling my soul, I keep my abilities. If there is one thing that would explode, in this case, that would be my soul. Nothing else."

Nyx was about to snap at (once again) how her nephew just called her, but stopped while seeing the rings slowly disappear from sight on his skin.

The link forming the network of power then dissolved back into nothingness.

And PJ could feel something else than burning heat once again.

It was great.

Percy stood up once more.

"Well, I think I'll just make some anti-depressors companies get bankrupted to empty my reserves, right now…"

Then a wave of relief went through the city. Literally.

If you had been in Miami right now, you would have said goodbye to any of those following problems:

-depression

-tiredness

-starvation

-suicidal thoughts

-wish to leave your family

-wish to get rid of your fireplace (that was the least common outcome, since… well… Miami, people?).

Percy sat, and sighed with a tired happiness. Hestia and Nyx looked at their nephew in shock.

What? I said if you were in Miami, you wouldn't have any of these problems. I never said anything about the whole continent…

"Are you… better?", asked Hestia.

"Of course!", said Percy while blood began to drip from his eyes, mouth and nose (and ears).

The view was worthy of a son of Tartarus, really.

* * *

 _By the ''word '' way of counting words, the main body of the chapter was 2222 words long. Meaning two squared two(s)_

 _I know, I'm weird. But if you only noticed that now, well, you_ _are_ _rather… inobservant!_

 _In the end, all the best to you, and don't hesitate to review, it always make my day brighter (and please log in so I can MP back!)._


	19. Quite literaly too many godesses

Three days before mission starts.

* * *

Skià was currently hiding in the shadows. Which is really weird to him, I mean, he is hiding in what makes the majority of his being… Have you ever hidden in flesh? No? There's a reason.

And not in anybody's shadow, but in the one of mount Orthys. That means sneaky sneaky.

He watched with interest the missiles of his counterpart still hanging like a hundred feet above the building. PJ would be soo mad about this failure.

:: Not so much, buddy::, answered his counterpart. :: If the titan lord fails to concentrate his fortress will go down. This means they will make it. ::

Yeah, he could dream about that one. Skià moved a bit. Being a son of Tartarus had its perk. Tearing souls apart, moving in the shadows, and making immortals fear you so much they fall back under the sky.

Being the son of Gaia, however, sucked. At least on this mountain. His mother was radiating so much in this place, that Skià had to shield himself from the energy to ensure that his soul wouldn't go… Boom.

Of course, when he takes form, Skià loves being in a rock armor, because that prevent him from being naked (he was still half of a human, looking like it or not!), and it was so protective. Yeah, when your mother is earth, every rock armor is protective as well as protecting.

Down side meaning no drinks unless he dressed up in human clothes.

Skià tried to concentrate back into the mission. He had to check over the jar. The one with the weird writing all over it. Skià's dreams had been plagued by it, and he had to know what had to be rescued from the Titans. Or at least what was calling him. By the mental connection with his other half, he understood that he hadn't been the only one.

PJ had too noted an augmentation of dreams about this rune that kept flying.

That means stealy stealy.

…If stealy is a word.

…And the rune is nothing evil.

… And it is possible.

And…

Okay, let's stop. Mission. Mission, mission.

Skià entered by the main door. Even if it was closed…

And felt by the connection that… wait… No! PJ, just don't shoot at the fortress right now!

::Why?::

Oh, Skià didn't know… Maybe because he was still in there?!

You dirty half of yourself killer!

:: Stop making up words!::

It was three words and why was PJ interrupting Skià's mission?

:: I actually needed your attention. Athena is trying to get to the Queen Anne's revenge. I need you. This..::

Can wait a bit longer. Understood.

Not liked but understood.

* * *

Athena was trying to flash to this stupid boat since at least three minutes ago. And for those wards to maintain an Olympian goddess means a lot.

Almost like if… PJ was a god and this was his territory.

Suddenly, the wards were off, and she flashed to the boat.

PJ was there, seating.

"Haha, demigod! You think your wards could hold me? I a…"

Wait. The wards, if she had actually pierced through them, would have been at least weakened before she entered. It meant she had been invited on the ship.

"Lady Athena. Welcome to the Queen Anne's Revenge. Why did you wish to speak to me?"

She was taken aback by the calm tone of his voice. And maybe the power that kept radiating from him. Of course, his aura was shielded, but for some reason, the shield was in the wrong sense.

Forbidding the energy to flow in instead of to flow out.

"I wanted to warn you. This will be your third mission with my daughter."

"Indeed it will be."

"And I don't want you to hurt her."

"Oh, I was afraid you would have been a bad mother. Now, one question. Did you vote to send her to this mission?"

Athena gulped. Water seemed to rise, and the sun lost its brightness.

"Yes, why?"

"Then you have no right to tell me to hurt her or not. You made her your pawn, sending her on these quests because you know that I won't be within your control unless she is too. You are afraid to face me, yet you do everything to place me in… uncomfortable situations. What is it you seek, Athena?"

"You are nothing to tell me whether my choices are right or not! I am a goddess, you stupid…"

She finished when she saw powers literally shine through skin and bones alike, making a network of circles connected by lines of light.

She then understood. This boy was at least as powerful at her. And that was killing him.

Then he coughed blood, and the event stopped.

"Sorry about that, it is just..."

He used his hand to wash his lips.

"It's either you care or you don't. Don't be hypocritical. Don't blame me for whatever could happened. If you care about your daughter, then you have nothing to worry about. I do. She is a friend, and I'm not known to let my friends fight alone in the dark.

If you don't however, I will make it so she will never be again a way for you to control me. These kids at camp? They're your children's, your family. You might not consider this, but you owe them resect, as much as they owe you some."

The boat began to stir, under her.

"So, Athena, I won't ask you if you care or not. I don't believe you. But maybe she will. Just prove it during the mission. Watch it. Care. Or, if something happened to her while you could've prevented it, you will face my wrath. Goodbye, Athena."

Athena left while realizing that even if she came to… put a bit of pressure on the boy, she ended with some more.

* * *

The shields were up not so long after.

And soon, night fell, covering the visible world once more.

Somebody else was trying to get on the ship. Godly signature. Link to the sea. Link to this sea. Percy used his abilities to find out where on the earth he was, and soon understood. He was over Atlantis.

Shields down.

A marine wind materialized the god.

"It's been a while, since I wanted to talk to you, Perseus."

Percy's heartbeat got crazy. _They Knew._

"Amphitrite."

The goddess of the sea, queen of the ocean, lady of Atlantis, mother of Triton, wife of his biological father smiled.

"I guess I'm not yet forgotten."

"It's my lucky day, isn't it? Two goddesses want to speak to me in a row, and I don't doubt they both want to pressurize (for the lack of a better word) me."

"I don't want to pressurize you, Perseus."

"Then using my real name doesn't help make your point, Amphitrite. Since you don't come to pressurize me, and since you know my real identity… Might I ask what is it you want?"

"I only want my questions to be answered, _PJ_. Or should I say Skià?"

A purple glow appeared in PJ's right eye, as the goddess gained both side's attention.

If she tried anything, she wouldn't have any luck. Even on the sea. And she knew it.

"Well, both are okay with me. But, maybe to don't mindfuck any god listening, we'll go with PJ."

"Isn't your shield enough to block every gods' interaction except those you want?"

"Every defense has its limits".

The goddess nodded.

"Then, do you want me to transport the discussion to somewhere more… secured?"

"I strongly doubt that your secure place is more secured than mine."

"Well, then let's go!"

"I didn't think of Tartarus. So Skià didn't lie while talking about Tartarus like a home…", admitted the goddess with a frown.

"So, milady. What is it you wanted to ask?"

"Why did you clear the memories of my husband?"

The silence was astonishing.

For a moment, Percy stood there, shocked.

Oh, gods.

Oh, primordials.

"Okay, so… I am kinda a son of the sea, you know?"

"Meaning I am your step mother? I do."

Another silence.

She really had him here.

"I don't understand what you ask, then?"

"Why did you try to make your father forget who you are to him?"

"Oh. That. Well, the more my _biological_ father knows about me, the more Olympus knows about me. The more Olympus knows about me, the more dangers come to my family."

"You don't hold them in your heart, do you?"

"Well, they already hurt my family more than enough, force me to do their dirty work for them on so many occasion, by putting both my friends and family in danger. And they tried to kill me. A least three time, under different forms. So, yeah, I don't hold them in my heart."

Amphitrite laugh. It's a clear laugh, like something she missed for way too long.

It's the laugh of someone who finally understand what it is to laugh. Maybe a bit uneasy at the beginning, like fearing to sound fake, but a frank laugh, one that keeps your heart beating even when you feel dead inside.

"Generally,", begin Percy, "I do know what people wants, at the bottom of their heart. But for you… I don't know. I don't know if it's nothing or anything."

She stops laughing. Immediately. Her face doesn't even cool down, like a smile slowly disappearing. It's sudden.

"You lack a goal.", finish Percy.

Amphitrite looks at her step-son with interest. For once, a bastard (for the lack of a better term, once again) of her husband seems interesting enough. Likeable, even.

Her look is at the limit of pleading ''keep going '', so Percy does.

"You didn't go look for me to ask me some questions. Well, you did, but not only. You have been along for so long. A daughter of Oceanus when he was still the most powerful water deity. In the blur between goddess and Titaness. In the blur between a queen, a wife and a mother. Not knowing where to go, and lacking the will to change a situation that may be at its best. You rule your people, but it is every day the same. You have enough power to be respected by your own, but not enough to be known in the outside world for being something else than that. A mother, a queen, a wife. Not a person."

Amphitrite sigh.

"You went here to shake things up a bit. You know I am powerful, and you know I am about to shake things up. In a way, I owe the earth shaker more than the king of the sea. You went here to find a way to change your situation. Maybe make me your champion, as it would definitively challenge Poseidon's authority."

Amphitrite was now agape.

She knew he was a smart demigod. Of course. But she thought he was a smart son of Poseidon, which, to be honest, cancel out.

But now… She just saw the true power of the demigod: he could read people, mortals and gods alike. That explain how he could terrorize two war-related divinities.

He was powerful, of course he was, but he was way more dangerous. Because he was a strategist, a listener, a warrior, a shadow.

Having him on her side seemed a must.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to be my champion?"

"Would it get me more powerful?"

Two reactions came from Amphitrite, following each other so quickly you could have thought they were happening all at once.

Which wasn't the case.

At first, a wave of disappointment. Men. Always carving power.

Then, she noticed something weird. His look. Fear. So second reaction, interest.

"Of course."

"Then I have to refuse. I am sorry, milady, and I understand that you could be angered, but hear me out. I _can't_ have any more power. It wouldn't go well. But I would gladly appreciate it if my boat was under your protection."

She started to wonder what he meant, until she started to look for his aura.

Power was currently accumulating around the boy, who was trying to counter it. It sure was a unique aura.

A bit like if power was a poison to him.

"You want me to bless your boat?"

"If you're okay with that, then sure? Why not? What kind of fool would I be if my boat was angering a sea goddess?"

Oh. It could be…Fun. Why not?

She thought about it, before reaching a conclusion.

"I give your boat control over Pindare."

"Thank you. Just one question. What, or who is Pindare?"

"You'll understand once you are in the sea."

* * *

Now, Percy was understanding.

Twelve tentacles. Two hundred teeth. One mouth. Four eyes.

The mouth of the sea monster was a circle, with retractable teeth, closing like an iris.

The four eyes were spread around it like four points that made a square. They were blue, looking at the boat with interest. The tentacles were ended by fins, allowing the creature to swim around it. It was swimming like a squid, spreading the fins around at a good time to gain speed.

The sides of its head were ended by four spikes, moving a bit like ears.

The sight would have made Percy fear for his life if he hadn't control over the monster. And if the monster wasn't a hugger.

Percy had had the monster for only two days, and the twenty-foot-long scaly green monster was always by his side, trying to put its head by his side.

Sometime, the monster disappeared for half an hour in the sea only to come out with baby whales in his mouth. Or a lot of fishes.

Percy was trying to figure out a way to not make Olympus freak out by the sight of the sea monster. He was going to have a long day whenever they figured out.

* * *

One day before mission starts

* * *

 _Hey! What's up!_

 _So, if my calculations are not totally wrong (which would be a first), you should have recently spent a day with the person of your heart._

 _To go back to this chapter, I have to inform you:_

 _I usually know what is going to happen before writing the chapter, and for this one, I was hesitant whether I should make a Skià centered chapter, a meeting with Athena or with Amphitrite (Artemis too, but for coherency's sake I let the idea down), and then decided that it wouldn't matter._

 _So, I made the three in one chapter._

 _Pindare._

 _I… have no idea what took me. He just… kinda happened, you know?_

 _Pindare has no mythological basis. None. I made him up entirely._

 _I created him while seeking info for Amphitrite, and understood how rare they were. She has no attribute, no symbol of power, is just known for her family ties._

 _One of the (rare) people speaking of her is a poet that didn't like the political system in Athens,_ Pindare.

 _The guy loved to tell stories that put the gods in their best image, imagining that if he didn't, they would have gotten angry at him. Understandable. Therefore, Pindare will fear any god that isn't Amphitrite._

 _Have a nice day!_


	20. Quite literally too many corridors

_Well, you may have guessed it but this is the chapter where I start book 4._

* * *

Percy (and by that, I mean both sides) was bored. Really, really bored.

While PJ was waiting for everybody to be ready (meaning Annabeth and Grover to take some clothes), Skià was walking in the streets of New York. Why, would you ask.

The answer is simple yet complex. Olympians. Simple answer, complex to understand.

To make it short, Skià had some intel saying (*cough* Hestia *cough*) that the Olympians were trying to follow his every movement.

After a bit of planning, and researches, Skià then decided to wander in the streets of the big apple in a pattern that, following the orientation of the throne room, might have been read as "Fuck of".

Skià was currently doing the K, and it clearly was the most boring letter to make, as he had to wait approximatively every two minutes to cross the road.

PJ tried to enjoy his time waiting by controlling from afar the boat and playing with Pindare at catch the bullet. For those wondering, yes, PJ was very precocious with them, making sure nothing bad happened.

Still, ADHD.

You might think that being at two places at a time would make sure you don't **_enjoy_** this absolutely **_awesome_** syndrome. Quick fact for yah: it doesn't. On the contrary, being two beings at once can (therefore will) ensure you get bored way quicker.

The prophecy was quite clear enough:

You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,

The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.

You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,

The Child of Athena's final stand.

Destroy with a hero's final breath,

And lose a love to worse than death.

Lovely.

But hey! For once, it didn't speak about treason! It only spoke about a traitor… That completely could have meant someone that already did his treason! Really, it could have meant anything.

This year (or more precisely this prophecy), Percy decided to try something… new.

In the myth, whenever there is a prophecy that people didn't want to follow, they just got against it. Tried to avoid it.

What if, on the contrary, you tried to be a bit clever, and just played with the term!

For example, the Child of Athena's final stand could mean that she died, or became paralyzed.

Well, that's a bad example. A paralyzed demigod **is** a dead demigod.

But, still.

Think about the great prophecy this way:

A Half-Blood of the eldest gods,

Shall reach sixteen against all odds,

And see the world in endless sleep.

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap,

A single choice shall end his days,

Olympus to preserve or raze.

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.

Technically speaking, that's not dying! You just have to get a curse on a blade that allow it to contain a soul, and then… reap the soul, then give it back!

Ta-da!

A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.

If you take the two last verses as a sentence, it means that the choice offers three options: death, preserving Olympus or razing it.

Death being the best option knowing how annoying Olympians can be.

Annabeth was back. Still shell-shocked from the prophecy, but back. Now, they only needed to find the entrance.

The delta was shining slightly, like a beacon. When Percy touched it, the door swiftly opened, letting a stair guide the three friends into a stair. As soon as they descended, something felt wrong.

PJ kneeled to touch the floor. A growl was heard. A repetitive growl, or, with reflection, something among a purr.

"Are we shielded from Olympus?", whispered the son of Tartarus.

The purr continued, with a slight variation that everybody took as a yes.

"Good, friend!"

"Okay, can we speak about how weird this is?", asked Grover.

"Not so much once you think about it, G-man", began Percy, "This place works a lot like Tartarus."

"Oh.", commented Annabeth. "Does that mean you can guide us?"

"I… think so. I also think that for the time being, Time won't be able to track us."

"Cool.", said Grover.

Annabeth nodded. If time was different, then of course a not completely awoken Time wouldn't be able to just track them.

"So, where to, Percy?"

Percy froze at the question and looked at Annabeth with a bit of nostalgia.

"If we could stick to PJ, I would completely be fine with that. Because even if Skià is here, he is… sleeping right now. But, to answer, east."

He then departed, Grover following him with his fake shoes making an annoying wood sound.

Annabeth stood there for a second, worried whether yes or no she hurt him again. Noticing the distance, she decided to run and catch up before losing herself.

"You could have waited for me!"

"Why for? I see your soul, even behind my back. I know where you are, and I see where you want to be."

They kept going in silence. After what seemed to be hours for bored kids with ADHD, Annabeth ignited another conversation.

"So, what's new?"

"Amphitrite knows part of the truth."

"And?"

"She decided she liked me."

Annabeth felt something wrong.

"What makes you say that?"

"She wanted to make me her champion."

"You say it like you denied.", said Grover. "Please tell me you accepted."

"I said no. But I still gained something."

"Percy!", shouted Grover, "when a goddess is trying to bless you, you don't deny it!"

"I can't"

Grover was about to answer, but was cut by Annabeth.

"What do you mean?"

"Power… I am the most powerful demigod to ever live. It's a fact."

Annabeth opened her mouth to ask what that got to do with everything else, but was cut. Percy kept going, looking at his hands with slight fear.

"I… I know that for one reason. There's a limit to how much power a mortal can get. A little more, and your soul burns. I am at the limit."

Like if admitting that took a physical toll on him, Percy began to cough.

When he removed his hand from his mouth, Annabeth could see blood, slowly disappearing. A little nod from Grover told her he saw it too.

"Are you alright?", asked Grover.

The question in itself had no interest. Everybody could tell that no, Percy wasn't alright. But Grover, as a good guardian, knew that it was the best way to ask someone why they weren't alright.

"Not as good as I want the enemy to believe."

"Why is that?"

"I died, Grover. This body was out for so long, it's a miracle it still partially works!"

"You're not healed at all, are you?"

Percy was about to answer. But his look just hooked something behind a wall.

"God at eleven O'clock."

They soon arrived before two doors. And a two headed god of door and cross-ways.

"Hello, Annabeth." "She's a brat. They all are.", said Janus, left and right head beginning already to bicker.

"It's not nice to say that!" "It's right!"

"What do you want to me?", asked the daughter of Wisdom.

"I want you… to make a choice!" "And to fail, if possible."

Grover and Percy were looking at each other with… a mighty feeling of… "what the truck is happening?".

"A door will lead you and your friends to a certain death, while the other… will lead you to a help you need" "Oh, and if you go back, I get to kill you myself!"

Alright, fun's fun but who needs it? Percy was bored already. Tactical attack in 3… 2… 1…

"Aren't you part of the _roman_ pantheon? Does this mean there are _roman_ gods, or even better, demigods?"

Shock went through both faces at once, when the god realized that to escape punishment for letting the secret go, a change of side for the titans might be best.

"Just let her choose.", said both voices at once.

"Oh, you mean don't reveal that you just tried to rig the game?", said Percy with a little smile. "I think you haven't heard about me, then. Because I only have one name to call for you to feel the horrible lie that a happy ending is! Then again, I officially only did that to two deities, so…"

Janus paled. It couldn't have been anything else than rumors, right? The swirling shadows said otherwise. It was like the boy didn't even have to call the name. Just…

The boy was a monster.

Janus lost his last piece of a smile when he felt a goddess approaching.

He flashed away.

And Hera flashed in.

Grover immediately bowed, while Percy just awakened Skià within his mind. Annabeth was trying to estimate whether yes or no she should bow.

"You know, queen of Olympus, I don't like people trying to read my mind. Or rather, people tend to be… taken aback, when they do."

"Is that a threat?"

"No! Of course not, Hera. Just so you know", began Percy while a large smile appeared on his face, making him the predator and her the prey in this situation, "let's just say that next time, I won't shield you!"

The labyrinth began to make a sound of rocks hitting each other, that might have sounded like a laugh.

"Thanks buddy!"

"L-Lady Hera…", tried Grover, "W-what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I wanted to ensure the good development of the quest. I assume that the idea of making PJ play along was good enough."

"You don't say?", asked a quite irked PJ.

"You might want to visit my son, Hephaistos, so he can help you. He always liked the mortal…"

"Wow", said a voice.

Skià simply appeared out of the shadows, with a speleologist outfit on him.

"It must be horrible to you to ask help for the son you launched out of Mount Olympus because you didn't like his look!"

Percy high-fived his self

"The worse being that you come from a family that literally shape-shift…"

With a furious… pout, the queen of the gods left the scene.

"PJ, please, if you want to get killed by the gods, not with me near…"

"Oh, come on, G-man! It was fun", answered both sides of Percy at the same time.

"Only for you, Percy…" sighed Annabeth.

"Oh, please. Can we go using Hephaistos now? Hera was right, we need him."

"Why, can't you ask your bud to guide us to his master?", asked Annabeth.

"The labyrinth isn't only made of corridors, you know? I count roughly one hundred different room and nobody has any idea where Daedalus is, so… It would probably be shorter to see Hephaistos!"

All of the questers nodded at this. It seemed logical.

"So, where is Hephaistos?", asked Grover.

Percy pointed to a wall.

"In this direction."

"So, we have to turn right at the next corner?", asked Annabeth.

"What?! No! This is the labyrinth, Annabeth. If you want to go to the right, going to the right is the worst idea."

A slight growl from the labyrinth agreed.

Soon, all of them saw a door.

Percy jumped ahead of everybody and held the door.

"And now, ladies and satyrs, a mighty Olympian!"

There was no Olympian in sight.

A car just rolled on the floor, joining some machinery, then got held up. Having very limited knowledge of the mortal technology, Percy just… considered it was used to hold the car up so somebody could access the bottom.

A workman just appeared under it, and soon, was fixing it.

"So, children", began the man, "what do I owe the pleasure? Got any problem with your ride? I gotta see the paper of the vehicle before fixing it, you know? Plus, it'll have to wait, cause this Clio from 97 is giving me trouble. Argh, these French are really weird in their way to build cars."

"Are you Hephaistos?", asked Annabeth.

"Oh, so you are here for business. I should have understood, with mister mystery here."

Hephaistos was pointing Percy, who was a bit taken aback.

"Mister Mystery? That's a terrible nickname!"

"Lord Hephaistos, we need help on finding Daedalus. Can you give us any lead?", asked Grover with a quick bow.

"Well, he doesn't want to be found. So why would I help you?"

"For your children that would die in the battle that would happen?", asked Percy.

"I would evacuate them."

"Right. And people like Beckendorf won't mind at all.", said Annabeth.

"They would listen."

"They won't. That's what you gods don't understand. It's not because you _can_ control people that you _have to_. You Olympians should be humbled because the way you do things will make shit blow at your face", said Percy.

Grover missed seeing the god smile because he was too busy glaring at his friend.

"So, what do you want for us?" asked Annabeth, not wanting to get too sidetracked

"I have recently lost the control over my favorite forge. A power is keeping me out, and every time I manage to get in, they have cleared the way. I want you to stop that from happening."

"Good. Because we'll have only have to battle a thing easily able to match a god. It's not like it's easy!" pouted Percy.

A pause in the discussion let him understand why was everybody glaring at him.

"Did I say something stupid? Because I've been trained so it wouldn't happen…".

"PJ, you are something able to match a god." Pointed Annabeth.

" _easily_ able to match a god.", rectified Hephaistos. "Do you think we don't know of that boat of yours?"

"Well, since you know of that bat of mine, can I ask you to help with some upgrades?"

"Sure, after this quest!", said Hephaistos.

It became clear by the glow in his eyes that the god would not mind at all, just willing to see what was built. Percy could feel his need to understand how the magic worked. And with the few upgrades Percy had in mind… It could be… quite impressive.

"Well, then we'll help you!"

Annabeth really wanted to tell Percy again that _she_ was leading the quest, but didn't. They needed this, plus in the coming war, this boat could become a pure advantage.

* * *

"My lord, it seems like the signature is entering the forge where the scepter is being…"

Began a mortal on the surveillance room of the _Princess Andromeda_.

A glow appeared on a screen and slowly, a smiling face appeared on the screen.

A crooked smile for the crooked one.

"Good. If I am correct, then they'll have to expose their card. I am coming, _brother_."

* * *

 _Well, if that isn't a cliff hanger?_

 _So, yeah, fourth book. And yeah, Hephaistos will make some modification upon the_ Queen Anne's Revenge _. I think about mobility a lot, and I think that Percy, both sides of him would really appreciate having the boat on different terrains than just water and beaches._

 _Anyway, just so you know, the plan made by Time will fruit. It is quite obvious. I mean, Percy is just too powerful for the Manhattan battle, so…_


	21. Quite literaly too many monsters

_I heard about a theory describing how a man and a woman on a desert island should fall in love with another. This is homophobic, I think, but in this Fanfiction, I already decided to play Percabeth. So, let's begin, shall we?_

* * *

It was a trap. Of course it was. As soon as the three friends entered the volcano, Grover began to shake.

"I smell monsters.", he explained.

"Of course you do, we're underground. It always smells like monsters…", said Annabeth, a tad… despaired.

"No, you don't get it", said Goat boy: "Underground always smells like monsters, but never this much. Here, there's at least a thousand of them."

Percy nodded.

"Grover, I know you don't want to fight monsters. How about I ask the labyrinth to help you find Pan, and divide the team."

Grover quickly nodded.

"Annabeth, I know you won't agree, but the same offers go to you…"

"Denied. However, and this even if I think dividing the team is a bad idea, you should go soon, Grover. It might be useful to have Pan by our side if we fail…"

They divided their resources and soon Grover was gone.

"So, what do we do?", asked Annabeth.

"I thought you made the plans. Usually mine are go in, kill everything, go out, go to my boat…"

"Okay, I'll make the plans. How about we both go, Skià attack in the distance, You shoot fire to keep them far, and I kill those who go past our defenses."

"Need my help?", asked Skià as he took form.

"You were listening, Skià. I know it."

"You do. Not Olympus. Can't have your mom think I stalk you, can I?"

"No, you stalk Pj" answered Annabeth.

Skià laughed.

Soon, they entered the main room of the volcano.

Main cave would have been more adapted.

The forging process that was taking place seemed to make dechets that were directly thrown into the lava lake underneath the platform.

Those platforms had something looking like heat shields under them, looking like satellites do, and you could feel the air going down from thermodynamic forces on those.

Skià could see the magic keeping the air from heating to an impossible heat.

Even though most of the forging monsters (and gods) could take quite a temperature, the room was still cooled at an agreeable 40°C (105°F). Annabeth was sweating like death.

Both sides of Percy were wondering what was the colors of the platform.

Yes, because it was impossible to see the floor. Why? Monsters. So. Many. Monsters. Happily there were footbridges, so the flow of monsters would be less intense. Unhappily, there were five bridges. So, too many for Annabeth's plan. Or any, really.

Eventually, they would be flooded with monsters and the only solution would be to bring the place down.

Or up.

Or to use any of those beautiful powers that kept trying to kill Percy, and would make him an enemy of Olympus.

A war cry resounded with enough strength to make Percy hope that the place would go down now.

It didn't. Just hurt his ears.

The monsters kept coming at them, passing through the shadows, the fire, for the diminished forces to be blocked by Annabeth.

Really awesome.

Really epic.

Really useless.

Sure, the flow of monster was slow, sure they just died on the defenses, sure they were then killed by Annabeth. But be sure that Annabeth was tiring.

The swings of her knife were always slower and slower, and soon the amount of them needed to kill an empousa was 2, then 3, then… you get it.

Percy sighed at once.

"Annabeth, come please.", said PJ. Or rather shouted Percy over the hellish sound of cyclops, empousai, hellhounds, drakons, and a few other monsters rushing for the most important meal of the day: demigodfast.

" **WHAT?** "

Not loud enough, it seems.

" **I said get out of the way!** "

Annabeth seemed to understand and got away from Percy.

Awe-fishing-some. To stay polite.

Well.

Let's go.

Step 1: cut the flow of monster.

Easy.

Percy united and soon his eyes were glowing purple.

The monsters slowed a bit.

Then the shadows became restless.

Step 2: Annabeth.

Soon, Annabeth was in a crystal that protected her. The crystal was designed to absorb unbreathable air and to let a bit of the outside gas come inside.

Annabeth didn't like it, for some reason.

Step 3: Monsters.

Lava glowed as it came under both his control of flame and earth.

It raised as an incredible earthquake began. Water began to find its appear in the room.

Surprisingly, Annabeth began to warm up to her protective crystal.

Soon, all Percy's power was in the room, and it exploded. Well, not all per-say. He still had enough to keep the crystal near him.

The explosion was a bright gold, and the last thing Percy wondered was whether yes or no Zeus would blast him from the sky for being this high.

When the vertical speed was killed, Percy fainted and Annabeth cried.

* * *

What does an object way too high in the sky when it has no momentum left?

If you said a party, then congratulations! You're stupid.

If you said fall, then you are not stupidly obvious in your stupidity.

If you said fall toward Ogygia, then I should start wondering why I am so aggressive today.

Because you'll be right. They started falling towards Ogygia.

* * *

Calypso was wondering where to put her 13th garden when at the middle of the forest of Ogygia, a pic of stone grew and stopped the fall of… something.

Immediately, she went looking.

The forest of Ogygia was a very calm forest. Trees let some light pass from the sky, birds kept the lovely music they were doing, and the wet yet fresh air was very relaxing.

The spike grew back into earth, letting her approach the crystal and the boy. He was quite handsome, with hair cut quite short, a very well designed jaw and…

And that's all. Calypso had promised herself she wouldn't…

The crystal opened. With a loud crack, something exited it.

"Please tell me you aren't Calypso.", said Annabeth.

* * *

"Please tell me you're not mum"

"You're not mum", answered Gaia.

"Wow. Back to _these_ puns?"

"Wow, back to _these_ powers?"

"Ok, you win. So. Why am I here?"

"I just thought I would check upon my badly injured and fainted son!"

"Wow, thanks."

"So. Do I kill you now or do I do it at this very moment."

"Go on."

"Thanks."

Gaia then became red with anger.

"How inconsiderate of you to just try and kill both you and your friends! Do you know what you just did? The very equivalent of taking the true form for a god! Now the Olympians will try to kill you and you just fell on Ogygia, and…"

Insert here unbearable hug.

"Mum, can't… breathe…"

"Don't ever pull this off again, do you understand me?"

"Right… I will try to don't pull this off again."

"Good. And just wait until your dad hear about this again! And your aunts!"

"It's day, I'm far from both home and Tartarus because they're basically the same to me. I still have a few hours."

"Well, maybe your home is just defined by Annabeth."

Percy looked at his mother in the eyes, trying to find the joke.

"I see where this conversation goes. Don't want it to go there."

"Oh… I'm your mother, it's normal I want to see you happy!"

"I'm your son. It's normal I don't want to talk to you about this."

"Whatever. Just be protected!"

"MOM I HATE YOU!"

* * *

Annabeth was currently trying to wake PJ up. By shaking him.

They were in Calypso's cave, and he was frowning and pleading for mercy in his sleep.

Then his eyes flashed open and he shouted.

"What are you doing?", he asked while trying to get as far as possible from her.

"Waking you up. Seemed like you needed it."

His frown very slightly disappeared.

"Wow, thanks."

"Nightmares?", Annabeth felt stupid for asking. What was she thinking? Demigods dreams are the worst.

"Dating advices." Answered Percy while leaving bed slowly.

…

That's weird.

Annabeth opened her mouth to ask more details but was cut by a "don't ask". She closed it awkwardly and soon the only think that could be heard was birds.

"Where are we?", asked Percy.

"Calypso's island."

"Oh. Wait. How come you're here with me? Calypso's supposed to fall in love with everybody that arrive in her island… Oh. _Oh_. Blasted ADHD. I hate myself."

Annabeth laughed.

"For the moment, she didn't try anything on neither of us.", said the daughter of Wisdom.

"Thank you, Annabeth."

"Neither did I, by the way."

Percy stopped moving, and his face seemed to lost its blood.

"Please don't insinuate that."

"So the dating advice were about me", guessed the demigoddess.

"I hate you so much."

"Care to develop?"

"My _mother_ ship us both."

"Oh", said Annabeth while blushing.

"You said it!"

"Mother earth… ship us. This new awakes in me some paradoxical sentiments.", said Annabeth.

"When you'll stop flirting, you both, care to come and explain what happened for the main rule of the island to be thrown into the ocean?", asked Calypso by the entrance of the cave with some gardening tool.

"I'm not flirting! I'm enduring!", protested Percy.

"Good to know", said Annabeth, suddenly not as far from him as he would have liked.

Percy froze once more, for Annabeth greater pleasure. Enjoyment? That's weird too…

Take 2: Percy froze and that made Annabeth laugh.

Calypso too, by the way.

Skià separated, and once his physical form was complete, he just said "Well, I'm outta here", and shadow-travelled.

PJ was still frozen.

"I swear if you keep going I'll soul travel and leave you here alone.", tried PJ, after some time.

Annabeth laughed again, and exited the room.

Once she was out, Calypso began to talk.

"So you two aren't a thing? You sound like an old married couple to me."

"First: Shut up, and two: seeing how badly PJ insulted Hera, wedding will come in a _long_ time."

Calypso nodded sarcastically.

Percy was soon out.

"Well, I think once I'll have regained all my powers, I could evaluate how the magic and this island works, therefore using it to free you Calypso and upgrade my boat."

"You think a lot about your boat", said Annabeth.

"I know. But I don't win every battle with Princess Andromeda, because of Time's magic. I'll have to place myself back in the race."

"Boys and their weapons", said Calypso.

"More like a shield in this case. I want to make sure that I'm prepared for the war that's coming."

"Honestly, I saw his ship, and I have to say that you're right; Calypso. This thing is a fortress."

"And now I remember I forth to play with Pindare while I was out.", sad Percy. He sat near them and took a relaxing pose, and soon, his irises got blank.

"Do you really think he can get me out?", asked Calypso.

"Honestly… if there's one person that can get you out it'll be Percy."

"Percy or PJ?", asked the daughter of Atlas.

"PJ when Skià isn't around. Percy otherwise."

"Skià?"

"That would be me.", interrupted the shadow.

"He got a habitude to come when people call his name."

"'Cause I'm a demon!"

«Not quite », said Annabeth, reassuring Calypso.

"And why do the name changes when you're around?", asked said goddess.

"Simply because I'm the other half of Percy.", said Skià softly.

Calypso nodded.

PJ eyes took their color back, meaning a swirl of purple, green, black and orange. Soon, they lit up in a fire that was still a bit red.

"Skià. We're okay on the energy levels?", asked the demigod.

"Sure. You have four hours until having to activate the shields. You should eat for once."

"How come, ''for once ''", growled Annabeth.

"Well, eating would most probably make my soul burn from the power in the meal… so I try to eat as little as possible", answered Percy.

"Well, I'll have to feed you, then", said Calypso, smiling.

Skià smiled. "How about _I_ feed you?"

"Skià, we both know you're the part with the less experience with Hestia's blessing, so really; don't."

Skià snapped his fingers and soon a table with a fest meal on it appeared out of thin air.

"See? I can do it."

Skià then disappeared in the shadows as Percy became temporarily complete once more.

"So… Annabeth, any injuries?"

"Blood loss, internal bleeding, concussion, broken rib, Right lung not working, left lung half working, soul problems and unsafe heartrate."

"I hurt you? I-I'm sorry, I tried to protect you, I swear."

"You did. I'm talking about your injuries."

Calypso laughed a bit.

"You are just teaming up against me. All of you! Well, gotta hide, night is coming.", pouted Percy.

* * *

 _Quite a short chapter, I know. But eventful, I hope. I… am not sure what to do once Percy is back in the overworld…_

 _Anyway, if you have any question, suggestion, comment, please review! I'll PM you an answer!_

 _Have a nice day!_


	22. Quite literaly too much power

_Hey! Back to our two characters stranded together on an island._

* * *

Percy and Annabeth were sparing.

Excuse me.

PJ and Annabeth were sparing.

No power, just two blades, just two humans sparing.

Calypso and Skià are studying the magic of the island.

It appears that the flow comes directly from Mount Olympus, making all the shield more powerful with energy coming from the aura of the gods.

The crystals of the island act like batteries.

In fact, the island has properties on its own, even if you don't take the prison part in consideration. Part of its magic is that it's able to be found by all those who really needs it. Not in life or death situation, but in world or not ones.

The shield rejects only those who can't be loved by Calypso.

But it can be shattered. It can be opened.

Lesson one in wards. There's always a loophole.

No defense is perfect.

Skià threw a rock afar. It bounced on the shield, making it fall on the ground.

Seeing how the magic works, if you empty the batteries, the shield would slowly loose range.

You only need a spell that eats a **lot** of magic.

Still possible.

Still hard.

Just make Calypso go near the limit, and let it pass over her.

The shield won't detect her, that's not how it works. Because it isn't designed to initiate contact. Because it's a prison, not a containment cell.

The difference is that Tartarus doesn't work like that, the labyrinth doesn't work like that.

It's not Hecate's job. It's Olympus'.

And they never thought anybody would notice.

PJ stop fighting for a second, taking some sand in his hands.

"Everything alright?", ask Annabeth.

PJ nod. Not an answer, but close enough.

A spell that cost enough that it would drain Olympus. Hard.

Or the connection. It is a connection, it has its own limits. Go right through them, and…

The shield would lose energy.

Looks like Queen Anne's revenge is gaining an upgrade.

Good.

Remains to know what.

Oh, and the box with the runes. They still must find the box with the runes. Well, if it's on the mountain of Despair, why don't improve the shields.

Then next problem.

The boat can't come to Ogygia. It is outside of time and space. Therefor not over Tartarus.

PJ looks at an empty hand, now.

The boat can't come to Ogygia, but he can go to the boat. And he is connected to Skià, who can stay on the island.

:: It's a risk we're willing to make::, finished his counterpart.

"Okay", said both sides of Percy at once. "Let's try it"

PJ's irises turned blank as he soul traveled to his sail ship. He began to create a leak to the shields of the boat, and…

::Spell, okay. 3…::

::2…::, counted Skià.

::1…::

"Contact", said Percy out loud.

The soul lost its barrier protecting it from most sources of energy.

Skià touched the batteries.

The soul began to attract the energy inside them. The gravitation pull strengthened with his resolve.

He began to absorb energy.

And PJ began to gain it. He widened the leak.

The flow was making their entire world shake. So much energy.

Queen Anne's revenge's shield, being better designed, accepted the input, without any range problem. It just solidified.

So much energy.

Slowly, the shield of Ogygia lost a bit of range.

So much energy.

Skià and PJ were burning in hell.

Their very soul was constantly trying to burn itself, then heal, then burn, then heal, not allowing any cooldown.

Calypso looked at the circular patterns on Skià with obvious worry in her eyes.

:: Test successful?:: asked PJ.

::Yes. Cutting the flow. Wait a bit before cutting yours. We have some energy to lose.::

Soon, Percy was whole again, and began to draw runes on stones.

"I hate it when you look smarter than me.", said Annabeth.

"Wanna help?"

"Sure!"

"Okay, so I am trying to make it so every demigod who needs help will find the boat. In fact, I am replicating the island magic core, and modifying it."

"Ah. Magic… Not my best subject.", began Annabeth.

"NONSENSE! You just never had a great teacher!"

"I had Chiron."

"Tell me one Hero of Hecate that he trained."

"Err…"

"Not a great teacher in magic!"

* * *

8 hours later, Annabeth and Percy laying on the floor, near each other, while Percy kept his theoretical class of magic.

It was dark outside, and Annabeth was enjoying the moment, the lesson, the knowledge.

"But what if you re-root a spell to its energy core?"

"Then it will dissipate slowly the energy at a speed depending of the efficiency of your spell. As an example, you can notice gods' spell for their low efficiency."

"Why so?"

"They have so much power… A little bit, a little more… doesn't matter much to them."

"Oh."

"You for example, you have an energy core that is very limited. Theoretically, you could do the same spells as a child of the big three by training it, and using very effective spells."

"Are they any different than other spells?"

"Well, it's a question of work. Let's look at this this way. When you walk from a place A to B, they're technically unlimited ways to go. But there's one which is the quickest, one which is the easiest to walk upon, and one which is easier to remember.

Those three ways don't have to be one and only. But they're always here.

Now, you should use the easiest to walk upon, to protect your energy as much as you can.

Immortals tend to use the quickest, which is logical, but not with every power core.

Everybody is linked to some elements. You for example, it would be knowledge. Not a great source of power, but base of arts, and root of the civilization. It doesn't mean you're not linked to some other elements, but I only know of this one.

If you base your spells around it, you'll just have to link every of your elements in a way that's usable."

"I don't get it.", revealed Annabeth.

"Imagine I'm trying to grow a tree, okay?"

"Okay."

"I have a connection to the earth, and the hearth. Meaning I have some healing and control over minerals.

If I find a seed, I can agglomerate minerals around, and force it's development with healing magic."

"Oh."

"Yes."

"And how would _I_ do it with my domain over knowledge and intelligence?"

"You'd have to make the tree remember what it's like to be grown up. Harder, longer, but with more limited elements."

"So I have to link myself to other elements to make it easier."

"You get it, girl!"

"How do I do that?"

"You connect with a power core linked to that element. Here, think about it that way. The energy comes from the primordials, which are the elements themselves. Gods combine them making new domains. And by blessing people, they allow to tap in the domain, and to therefore adapt their power core."

"So by making magic we do like the gods?"

"Of course! And for a reason! Combining magic is the best way to use it! A child of Zeus, for example, don't take energy from Zeus, but from the different primordials that combined, makes Zeus ' domains. Sure, the gods can destroy his link, but if the child knows enough, re-establishing his powers is possible."

"How do you know all that?"

"I grew up with three primordials around. It helps."

A pregnant silence happened for a moment.

"So if I follow your logic, there are spells closer to my domains that I could use?"

"Sure! Everything linked to the mind. Why are you asking?"

"I think I'll have to gain practice over it. Imagine if I could read minds, or better, be telekinetic!"

"That would be… useful. Especially in the upcoming war…"

"So its possible?"

"Everything _is_ possible Annabeth. Given time."

The lesson kept going on until it was suddenly morning. They had fallen asleep, side by side. The flowing day, Annabeth and Percy began to research the possible applications of her powers on the matter.

Turns out Annabeth could make little objects shake with her mind.

"Don't worry. You are drawing a link, the first few dozen time are always the hardest. Once it will be stable, you'll just have to worry about the power output."

So that's what she did. Try, try, try again.

It was something entirely new to her, and it completely felt like… Like trying to use very little grapling hooks. She needed to use a lot of them, and to was really tiring, but slowly, she was starting to have enough of them to make ropes that could be useful to climb the wall.

* * *

By the end of the week, PJ had finished his spells, and Annabeth could make small things levitate for some seconds.

Some explaining was needed, but soon Calypso had gathered her things, prepared for departure, and they began the process.

The energy flow was more… stable this time. It hurt less. And soon, the magic of the Queen Anne's revenge accepted the upgrade.

The shield became able to stop time magic, very useful when fighting Time, and the inside of the boat could be considered as a complete separate dimension.

Using patterns in the magic from both the labyrinth, the boat developed some interesting properties. IT could now stop the fundamental energy flow, meaning that dropping the shield in the boat wouldn't cause Percy to go… boom on a soul level.

Calypso felt the barrier go through her, not bothering with her. Even if Percy had told her it would be safe, she still stopped breathing, not daring to move an inch.

Percy used the remains of the energy to teleport the Queen Anne's revenge close to her position, and Calypso was soon facing a very, _very_ tall monster that just placed her on the bridge. As a wave of darkness washed through the boat, Skià appeared, holding Percy's soulless body.

The light came back to his eyes, as the boat began to move as far as possible from the island.

"Ladies and gentlemen and monsters, the trip will last approximately two days. We recommend avoiding more teleportation for now, until the shields would be further analyzed to see if they can hold it in Tartarus.", announced PJ.

"Skià… what is the aquatic monster doing here?", asked a worried Annabeth.

"Amphitrite."

Annabeth nodded.

Soon, night fell once more, and after dividing the cabins in the second bridge between everybody, and placing some magic furniture in them, Percy literally _fell_ asleep on his bed.

* * *

The morning came.

Annabeth and Calypso were having a nice breakfast, while PJ was trying to heal his organs. Having not done that since a long time, they were in a pretty bad shape.

His liver had lost fifteen percent of its scale, the lungs were barely holding, the neurons were looking like 60's electronic, and worst of all, the heart had some little weaknesses among the surface, like if someone was slowly drilling in it.

Very graphic, isn't it?

Being the son of Tartarus was allowing him to hold up, but he only could get him this far.

Seeing Percy's energy run out (for once), an ice structure entered the dining room and asked:

"Calypso, can you do any healing, please?"

Soon, both Calypso and Annabeth were in the improvised med-bay, reading some scans.

"It's not good, Percy…", said Annabeth.

"Thanks, didn't notice at all…", answered Percy not noticing the use of his real name.

Calypso did try. Really. And she helped. But at some point, too much was too much.

"Maybe if I use some water to heal you", proposed Annabeth.

Both girls stood there, waiting for an approval, until noticing that Percy had fainted a little while ago.

Hidden well in the shadows, Nyx was watching over her nephew. Her worries were now confirmed; he was getting worse and worse.

She quickly dissolved, only to take form once again in her sister's _house_.

The idea of it not being a palace was unthinkable at first, but she had to admit the charm it had.

"Nyx? How's Percy?", asked a worried Tartarus.

He looked older. A bit.

"He's holding up. But he'll need time home to heal once he finishes. If he doesn't, I can't guarantee his health."

Tartarus nodded.

"Want to have a tea? Gaia made a pie, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you take a bite."

Nyx blinked. Sure, she was younger than Tartarus by a long shot, but she could still remember him being like that in his youngest years.

She agreed, very happy to have an excuse to eat Gaia's famed pie.

Gaia went back home only to find her husband and her sister in the kitchen eating her pie.

"While I don't mind you both taking a bite, I DO MIND YOU EATING HALF OF THE THING!"

Nyx and Tartarus laughed, and gave her the remains of the massacre that was now her pie.

"So, how was it up there?", asked her husband.

"It was great. I've been wandering a bit in the woods, saved a demigod, looked at Physis domain a bit longer…"

Tartarus' mood darkened.

"Before it ends totally."

"I wouldn't say that. Yes, America, both north and south, have a problem with deforestation, but Canada remains a very idealistic pocket of nature. In another hand, Europe is having a deforestation rate negative. Sure, the situation isn't bright, but they go in the right way! Some of them do."

Nyx listened to the old married couple before her bicker like no other primordial before them.

They had humanized with the eons, but maybe that's what they needed to be happy.

* * *

 _Cut!_

 _I know, I freed Calypso too early._

 _And I gave Annabeth powers._

 _For those wondering, I think that in the books, they work together that well because they're equals;_

 _Percy is powerful and Annabeth is clever. Like she says, knowledge is power, so that makes them equal._

 _In this story, however, my characters aren't especially equals._

 _Percy is and remains out of everybody's league, so for Percabeth to work, I either needed a less powerfull Percy or a stronger Annabeth._

 _I'm going with a bit of a mix of the two._

 _Hope you enjoyed,_


	23. Quite literally not enough wild gods

_Hey! Back with Percy, Annabeth, Calypso and Pindare!_

 _This chapter will less revolve around Percy and Annabeth as a group, and more about the quest. The pause is over._

* * *

Grover officially hated snakes.

From his breathing, he could consider having ran around two miles.

Not good.

He had started to feel Pan's presence a little time ago, but he was still in the Labyrinth. Sure, it had hidden him well from monsters, and he was directed directly to the natural scent, but he was still running from a snake.

A sixty feet long one.

He jumped behind a rock and let the snake creep it's way over his position.

Talking about his position, there was a little fountain and a drachma near.

"Oh, Iris, please accept my prayer and show me Annabeth Chase"

He took the drachma back in the face, as he watched the Iris Message turn back into "Target Unavailable."

Grover cursed out loud.

Snakes were deaf, right?

So why did this one turn around when Grover cursed?

He started running away once more while hiding his face behind his arms, in a protective pose that wouldn't be effective whatsoever against a snake of this size.

Grover saw the tunnel become a mere rift, not large enough for the giant snake in any way.

In the future, telling this part would always be a problem, because he had no idea how, but he managed to do a jump, place himself in the right position, and enter the rift.

He felt compressed, rocks touching his body on the two sides, but he found enough place to turn him head, and to notice.

The rift was allowing entrance to another network of tunnels.

Moving his ribcage along the way, barely breathing, lowering his head when needed, he entered the cave.

* * *

That's what it was, a network of caves, with beautiful crystals on the side, going up and down, left and right (only two letters left to get a simplified konami code).

They seemed filled with power, but what he noticed was their scent.

It was like Nature.

He let his instincts take over, and without thinking about what he was doing, moved forward.

The power was faint. In a way, so was Nature. But even if it was fading, it was still so much stronger than anything Grover had felt.

On the Nature side of things, of course. There was no doubt to him that even Percy was stronger than the presence of Pan.

He stopped walking as he entered one of those room dug in the rock by water for eons.

Pan was here.

He was on a bed, with a dodo and some extinct species from all over the world (white tigers, and the list goes on).

Grover bowed immediately.

"My lord."

Pan laughed heartily, understanding why he was the lord of the Nature, rightful ruler of the Satyrs.

He was like his domain.

He was free.

He was in a cave, buried _miles_ under the surface, but still, he was free.

Free to live, free to die.

"Grover Underwood. Isn't it beautiful?"

Grover looked at the room. It was indeed beautiful around him, with a serene atmosphere that even Hestia couldn't hope to achieve.

"It is, my lord. I-I don't know what to say… Now that you're found, we can restore everything!"

Pan laughed once more.

The laugh died haunted by melancholia.

"Your kind, my dear satyr, has always fascinated me. The faith you're able to put in things, is… astonishing."

Grover nodded, not sure what to think about all this.

"But it is too late. I already sent someone to tell the news. The great god Pan is dead."

"B-but…"

"I know. Your kind is the last thing keeping me from fading. My domain is so little nowadays, that I'm just a _souvenir_. Just a spark of the fire I once was.

I am fading, Grover, and your amazing kind has just… made the process last longer."

Grover felt a tear coming on, but, by respect for his lord, he blinked it out of existent. His throat was hurting like hell, and he had an ache in the entire abdomen.

"Do you understand, Satyr?"

"You want me to tell them that you're dead."

"It's part of the favor I want to ask you."

Grover tilted his head with the weight of interrogations.

"I am fading. But my domain should… my domain _must_ remain. For the sake of balance."

"But, I-I can't restore it, not alone!"

Pan smiled, and sat on the bed tiringly.

"It'll be a slow process.", admitted Pan, "it won't be easy, too."

"Th-they'll never believe me!"

"Yes, they will. You have everything you need, satyr, except the power. My last action will be to make you the new lord of the wild."

Grover was fighting with all his will the tears, now.

"B-but I can't! You can't."

"Please, Grover. I ask this from a lord of the wild to a lord of the wild. Please free me. Don't I deserve in my last moments to see the happiness I witnessed in the times of old?"

Grover tried to smile.

From a lord of the wild to a lord of the wild.

Equals.

Tears began to roll from his eyes.

His mouth kept twitching in what was barely a smile.

And with a dead voice, without any strength remaining, he whispered, barely making any sound, in something closer to mouthing than speaking: "You have suffered for too long. I free you."

Pan's smile widened: "Thank you, Lord of the wild."

The light in the room faded out of existence, replaced by the blue particles coming out of the god.

The creatures present turned into ash without a word, and when Pan had eventually faded, the bed became mere dirt.

Grover opened an eye he didn't realize was closed.

And for maybe the first time in his life, he saw.

For the first time of his life, he understood.

For the first time of his life, he took a breath.

Grover was reborn.

He still had some quest to finish.

But he had all the time in the world to do that.

He turned around, and walked.

He didn't turn back.

The rift opened before him.

The snake bowed to him.

The Labyrinth purred at his presence.

"Take me back to camp half-blood. I have some demigods to meet."

A wall shifted on his right.

He walked in the corridors, following the guidance of the sentient maze.

* * *

He arrived at the exit of Camp without a word.

He touched the Delta, and the rocks shifted.

He was out.

Fourteen demigods were standing around him, weapons pointing at him.

He smiled, as his right hand began to move.

The campers didn't move.

For one hour.

He walked into the bush, where the leaders of the Satyrs held their meeting.

Grover always had problems with the bush, he always kept having branches in his face.

Not this time.

"What the…", asked the satyr on the right.

Names didn't matter right now.

"The great god Pan thank you for your faith. But like he had revealed, the great god Pan is dead."

Grover turned around, not letting the words sink in, and walked out of the bush.

Campers where looking at him funny.

He really didn't care. He was free. And he had a mission.

First things first.

He smiled as the sand began to crawl under his feet.

He sat on the beach, took a meditative pose, and waited.

* * *

The council was in pure Chaos.

Dionysus had taken the info ''right out of the satyrs' ass'', and it seemed the earth had a new lord of the wild.

"We have to eliminate the threat", proposed Athena.

"Wow, calm down y'all. Could be a nice dude!" said Apollo.

"Neither of you are helping. The question for now is who is it. Then we can retaliate or not."

The voice of Poseidon, for once, stopped the chat.

"You are right, Poseidon. Hermes, send him here.", said Zeus.

* * *

Hermes was following the aura of the lord of the wild, but when he arrived, he just found a satyr on the beach, looking at the horizon.

"Hey kid. There's a new lord of the wild in town. Do you have any idea about who it can be?"

The satyr didn't bow. He smiled, in an out of character fashion.

"He's listening."

"Any idea about how to make him show up in Olympus?"

"Not in the slightest. I'm currently the only one able to see him, and he sure doesn't want to follow you."

Hermes sighed, and sat.

The satyr was looking at the sea, and when he did too, he noticed something, over the horizon.

It was moving.

Fast.

It was a boat, the Queen Anne's revenge.

"What the…", began Hermes.

"It's my ride. Good luck at convincing the new lord of the wild to follow you, Hermes. He had been chosen by Pan to restore their domain, and he's not planning to fail."

The boat was so fast Hermes could begin to hear the waves being cut under its weight.

"Who are you, satyr?"

The satyr looked at him, making his first real move in minutes.

"My name's Grover. And I don't think I'm a satyr, god of the travelers."

Then the earth began to quake.

When it stopped, a boat was on the sand.

Hermes tried to move toward it.

He bounced on a shield.

Under his eyes, the letters on the hull began to glow.

Queen Anne's **Revenge**

Cords began to draw from it, taking the satyr who wasn't one on it, and it became invisible.

The earth cracked open, and the aura fell in the underground.

* * *

Grover was put on the bridge carefully by the cordage, and he looked at the people on it.

"Pan?", asked a woman.

Grover smiled.

"Not far. I'm the new lord of the wild, lady Calypso."

He was then tackled by a hug coming from Annabeth.

Percy was walking toward him, slowly.

"Told you you'd find him with the Labyrinth's help."

"Of course… Even if that didn't end with Pan's retrieval."

"He faded…", whispered Annabeth.

"How do you know?", asked Grover.

"I've been… Practicing. You've got his essence."

"PJ, care to explain?"

PJ shrugged: "she needed to gain some new skills. Just told her the theoretical side of things."

"Good. Now care to explain why the American equivalent of Etna is flying?"

Percy coughed blood.

"The volcano… is flying? As in, not touching the ground?"

"As in lava keep making the rocks go up."

"Oh, shit! Now that'll be hard to explain to the Olympians… Is it losing altitude?"

Grover shrugged.

"I don't know, man, I'm just the new lord of Nature in town, and there is no Nature left on the damn thing. No plains, no forests, no swamps just lava, rocks and your damn magic all over the place!"

Percy shifted backward, visibly embarrassed, while Calypso was asking to Annabeth what they were talking about.

They chatted in the background for a few minutes, while Grover started to notice different things about Percy. His hair, usually cut short, was now longer, messy, and seemed to be moving when nobody was watching.

His eyes, habitually full of fire or mist were now a blank gray, like Pan while he was fading.

His energy was always so intoxicating, so much more than what a soul should have, and now it had started to take its toll.

True, Percy could soul travel to flee anything that tried to hurt him, but Grover understood that he had now to run away from himself to stay in shape, and that this was as possible as meeting Zeus as a cooker in a fast food restaurant.

"So, how are you, old friend?", asked the tired Demigod.

"Better than you, it seems."

"Not that this was hard in the first place, you know… I always keep the mask of the invincible PJ, but now…"

"The mask is turning to dust and taking you down with it."

Percy nodded slowly. As a newly crowned immortal, Grover looked at his health.

His heart rate was at 45 bpm. Quite slow, but then agai…

Wait, something's wrong.

Between the heartbeats stood there a signal, like… like a missed one. And those who weren't missed where so… randomly spread through time.

Percy was at 45 bpm, but his heart was working 87 bpm, missing nearly half of them.

"I assume Annabeth doesn't know about your heart?"

Percy didn't show any shock.

"She doesn't need to."

"It will break hers as well, dude."

"I know. That's why I'm trying to don't get any closer to her! That's why I teach her to be strong! So that when I go, she can stay!", snapped Percy.

Silence.

Percy noticed that Grover wasn't looking at him, but at something behind him.

Taken over by a gruesome feeling, Percy turned around.

A furious Annabeth shot the door of the captain's cabin closed.

* * *

 _Hey!_

 _I decided to shake things a bit._

 _And I just realized that I made a whole chapter revolving around Grover, but that I still managed to make Percy grow up._

 _I like to think that power always comes with a price, shall it be innocence, hope, or your life._

 _Of course, Percy will survive long enough to see the threat that will rise instead of Gaia in my modified version of HoO._

 _Hoping you enjoyed, Elpis21_


	24. Preparations

_Back again!_

* * *

Percy knew he was f… freaked?

Grover laughed heartily.

"Well, seems like you have more heart problems, now"

"I hate you.", growled the demigod.

"You sure do."

Percy was barely standing, his legs wanting to give up, to just let gravity take its control once more.

He was certain it wasn't health problems that caused that.

He had gained another weird feeling in his stomach.

"You should go talk to her."

Percy turned to Grover.

"We're late enough on this quest already."

"I know. But its needed. I'll guide the boat to the next entrance, while you go talk to my best friend. And don't break her heart!"

"I thought _I_ was your best friend!"

"Not until you've made things right again!"

Percy was about to pout, but as he noticed how this was useless, he entered the cabin.

The light inside was dim, as the boat was getting its master's emotion.

* * *

Annabeth was standing there, looking at him.

"We've got to talk.", she said.

"I know", he answered, feeling one hundred years older already.

Chairs appeared, and the light gained a bit of brightness.

They sat.

"So, your heart…"

"… is quickly deteriorating. I am not proud of this. I won't die, there are still chances for me to live.", finished Percy.

"Chances", spat Annabeth. "How many chances?"

"I don't know for sure…"

"You don't know, or you don't want me to know?"

"I… I want you to be happy. Truth isn't always the best gift, you know? It can be a curse."

"Stop eluding and tell me already!", shouted Annabeth.

"Two.", whispered Percy.

"One out of two chances that you'll survive?"

He snickered darkly.

"Two percent."

The world stopped turning for a minute. At least that's what Annabeth felt.

She was shaking. In anger, maybe.

In a flow of emotions, certainly.

"There's a chance you stay alive, huh?", she said darkly.

He nodded. "I don't intend to go down without a fight. And I want to live. But we must be realist. I'll probably won't last long."

"IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, THEN FIGHT!"

For a second, their roles exchanged. She was the relentless sea, and he was the calm wisdom of the man who can't afford to lie to himself anymore.

Afterwards, she wondered if the sea had ever lost someone.

"I am"

It wasn't' a sentence per say. It was two words, two sounds, two broken syllables.

They were two to go down.

"I can't leave this world in this state. I'll fight. I'll resist for as long as I can. But you need to understand, Annabeth. I can't imagine us growing closer. Not if I die then."

She just stared in those two holes of blankness he called eyes.

"But if you survive…"

"If I survive, then you'll have plenty of time to make me regret my bad decisions. If I don't… Well, you'll have to wait a little longer."

He smiled.

"But you'll have to get in line. If I die, my mother's gonna kill me, my dad's gonna kill me, my aunts are gonna kill me, and I think even Amphitrite's gonna kill me!"

She was still staring at him, looking at the last part of his irises to be grey.

He left the room.

And suppressed the part of his mind that told him _maybe for the last time_.

* * *

They were soon arrived at the next known entrance to the labyrinth, and they got in without any major issues.

Annabeth was walking alongside Calypso, her eyes not daring to live her friends back for more than a minute.

He had seemed so fragile she couldn't help but feel like he was going to disappear.

At one point, she touched the Labyrinth with her bare hand, wanting to know, wanting to _ask_ it if it could hold anything, _anything_ to make the chances go from two to three. Or two and a half.

The rocks moved slightly under her touch, not like trying to escape it, but rather… trying to move closer.

Maybe… Maybe she could figure out something, if they got to Daedalus faster…

And a wall moved behind her. They turned at the direction. And they faced a room filled with a lot of tech. At the center stood Daedalus.

He was shocked.

So were they.

"You control the Labyrinth."

It was no question.

They turned to Annabeth, her hand still in the contact of the wall.

"What kind of spell did you use?", asked Percy.

"I-I didn't…"

Grover and Calypso were looking at her with comfort.

"Well, the least I could do is to invite you in!" said Daedalus.

"Thank you"

It was awkward.

Like really awkward.

Tea party with a two thousand years old crazy genius do that.

"So…", began Daedalus, trying with haste to bring the conversation back from the dead. "Child of Iris", he pointed at Percy, "Athena", he pointed at Annabeth, before turning to Grover, "A satyr and a child of… Poseidon?", he asked Calypso.

"Two right, three wrongs." Said Grover.

"I made four hypotheses", pointed Daedalus.

"I know. I can still count."

"Then how can I…"

"I'm not a satyr anymore. I'm the new lord of the wild, the heir named by Pan itself on the verge of fading."

"Interesting…", whispered the inventor. "I know why you're here, though. You're here for the string."

"As a matter of fact, we're here to protect those who would want to take it from you. As long as it doesn't fall in Time's hand…", said Grover.

"It already is."

Silence. Astounding silence.

A heavy one too.

"We are too late."

"By a very long shot. They came at me last year, and have been in possession of the string ever since."

"Why didn't they attack though?", asked Percy

"Because of you. Even in a surprise attack, you scare their army enough that they won't go at least at twenty against one. I made plans to visit your camp, you know… And then they blocked me."

"How?", asked Annabeth.

"They… assigned me at residence. With Ariane's string, they can totally come back whenever they want, and they have been giving me surprise visits. If they ever failed to find me in here, let's say I won't be able to hide for long."

He showed them a gem, that seemed forced into his wrist.

"It's a bomb."

"Oh…", whispered Percy. "Wait, how did you survive this long?"

"I've been placing my soul into bodies I built."

"You're a soul traveler.", concluded Annabeth

"Of cours… wait. You aren't going to ask me how that is possible?"

"Nah, I'm one too.", revealed Percy.

"Oh."

Awkward…

"Could you help us?"

Annabeth broke the silence.

"I-I don't think it is that simple, child…"

"You already give it to them.", deduced Grover.

"They were… convincing. Your camp doesn't have a chance, and I'll finally be roaming free!"

"You're too smart to fall for that", declared Annabeth.

"I'm too much of a fool to have any choice."

"We have to rethink the complete operation.", said Percy." The quest failed, and they're s going to be a battle. We have to keep it at bay, make sure the least amount of demigods is hurt. The labyrinth answers to the both of us, a battle inside will give us enough advantage. Plus, they will most certainly be…"

"Wait a minute", interrupted Annabeth, "I am not in control of the Labyrinth! Plus, you can't fight! Your heart will…"

Annabeth didn't end the sentence, as Percy split.

"I'm going to get going", said Skià. "I'll continue my research of the artifact. If there's one thing that'll keep us running a bit longer, it's it."

The shadow melted away.

"I'm going to bring Nico in the fight. The prophecy has stated that our fate is in a Ghost king's hand, and I intend to make sure it'll end this way. Daedalus, I think its tie for you to go down. You've lived long enough, and I can ensure you a fair trial. Will you pass your control over the Labyrinth to Annabeth?"

"You'd have to…", began the son of Athena.

"I **can**. Don't you want to meet again all of the people you left behind?"

"How?"

"Blessing of Hestia. I know what people wants the most. For you it is forgiveness. I can give you that. They can't. Do we have an agreement?"

"Very well", sighed the first engineer. "I Daedalus, give away my mastery of the Labyrinth to Annabeth Chase. May she keep the expansion".

"Good. Grover, Annabeth, I'll set a meeting point later. For now, we need as many gadgets as we can. Go to CHB, and use them."

* * *

Annabeth left the office alongside her longtime friend, and immediately entered Camp Half Brood.

"Do I sound like that when I'm making the plan", inquired the demigoddess.

"Yes, you do. One of the many reasons everybody sees you together."

"Oh."

They soon entered the weapon shack.

"My I know why you're here?", asked a voice behind them.

They turned to see Chiron, his arms crossed obviously expecting an answer.

"The quest failed. We are using a contingency plan to ensure that the Camp stays safe."

Chiron sighed.

"I suppose it's a plan of PJ. Very well, what do you need?"

* * *

Nico di Angello was sparring with his sister. His shadow control was nowhere near to the might of Percy's, but he was the son of Tartarus, so Nico didn't really mind.

What he really minded, however, was that his Nekrokinesis was weaker than his sister's. His dead were slower, weaker, and clearly not as many as hers. She often said that he needed to find a reason to fight.

They were fighting without powers, and that still meant he was failing.

"Hello, siblings of hell."

Two blades ended under Percy's throat.

PJ laughed.

"You two need to calm down a bit."

Nico knew something was wrong quite immediately.

"Your life force… It's fading."

"I'm fine, thank you. I need you two."

"What for?"

"There is going to be a battle. We are preparing to fight in the Labyrinth, where we'll be the strongest. But the prophecy stated I needed a Ghost King. Not a Soul King. Therefore, I need Nico in the battle."

"And me?", asked Bianca.

"You get the important job. Should we fail, you'll have to fight in Camp Half Brood. It's Olympus first and last line of defense. We have to save it. I will give you a support from my boat. I am pretty sure some monsters will slip past us."

"Any idea what kind?"

"The worst. As always.", answered PJ darkly. "Can we go, Nico ? I trust your sister will be able to teleport just fine, but you're not specialized in this domain. Yet."

Nico nodded, clearly taken aback by the confidence of the fourteen-year-old boy.

A whirl of shadow later, they were on the Queen Anne's revenge.

"Percy? What happened?", asked Calypso

"I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I need you to become my second of command, and to prepare the ship for battle."

"I don't know how!", cried the immortal.

"You will. Once you accept, you'll gain full knowledge about how to control the ship, and will only have to answer to me."

Calypso took one minute to think about it.

"I accept."

"Very well."

* * *

Skià entered the fortress. And frankly? He would have preferred a fortress of solitude.

Mount Orthys was filled with titans, monsters, and demigods. Escaping their sight was no easy thing.

He was guided by the artifact, by the magic jar filled with runes.

He entered a room.

It might have been a treasure room, but it seemed empty.

Well, a it's-a-titan-fortress kind of empty.

The room in itself was majestic. Columns supported the walls, windows were inexistent, but the torches were giving it a daylight like feeling.

The tapestry on the walls was filled with images, tales of another Time, tales of another Titanomachy, tales of a better epoch.

Tales of a better lie, maybe.

They were imbued with gold, filled with magic, and the figures seemed to keep moving.

The room was clearly no square. It was longer rather than larger, and it almost looked like a corridor.

Well, a corridor for him when he was in his nightmare mode six months ago.

Skià walked forward, jumping from shadow to shadow.

And then, here it was.

When looking at it, Skià realized something. It was more a pithos than a jar. It was… so tempting.

Pandora's box. It was Pandora's box.

Emptied by Pandora herself, liberating all wrongs on the newly created mankind.

Every myth had a woman doing the wrong choice, it seemed. May it be Greek, Roman, Egyptian (if the goddess of earth was anything to go by). Heck, even the Christian religion had one!

But right now, Skià didn't know how she could have refrained from opening it.

The he felt it. Something was resonating within the box.

Skià gasped for air.

His heart stopped for a moment.

Well, everything is a moment from Time's point of view.

* * *

 _Holly cow a lot happened in this chapter._

 _I am running out of chapters sooner than I thought so I may not update next week or the week after. Don't worry, as soon as I'm in holidays again, I'll be able to right as much as I want to._

 _Anyway, I hoped you like it, and please review. It's always a pleasure._


	25. Battle ready

_And I left you last time with some real cliff hanger, huh? Well, You're lucky, today end with one as well!_

Skià was struggling.

« Well, well, well… If it isn't everybody's favorite shadow! », mocked the lord of Time. He then turned the son of Tartarus, and noticed what he was taking. "And you are here to take what? Pandora's box? No… It can't be that. Can it?"

Skià was stuck in time, his soul being the only part of his being still active.

"Answer when I ask! What are you here for?"

His head returned to a normal time, thankfully.

"You're back from the pit."

It didn't seem to be the answer expected by Time, because the entire tapestry stopped moving. Skià was good at reading people's emotion (except shadows', for some reason…), and it looked a bit like Kronos was not the happiest person in this room. Too bad.

"Of course, I am! Did you really think that anybody could block me? My sister might have stuck most of my power, I am empowered by every instant I give to this universe."

Skià cocked his head.

"Dude. Your sister? Do you mean Rhea or Ananke? Because they're the sisters of both of your components, and they both ''betrayed you ''. If you could untie my hands with your time, I have some quoting marks to make with them to show you how sarcastic I am."

The tapestry blew.

"Anyway, what if I want to steal the box from you?"

That seemed to calm down the lord of Time.

"So, you _are_ stealing it?"

"Didn't say that. But you didn't seem to believe I would have stolen it. Of course, it would have been a great plan, once I felt you coming, to take the most random object around to annoy you and go, but the fact that you didn't get caught… amuses me. Intrigues me."

"Would? You said would."

Skià cursed at his mistake mentally, but kept on a straight face.

"What? Imagine all the possibilities… You're the god of Time, are you? You must know about possibilities, split timelines and stuff. I must cover the back of my alternative version trying to steal this one. If one of us have a different discourse, you would have known who it was. But now, you don't."

"There is no such thing as alternate timeline"

"How do I know that? You could be lying! You're a bad little boy, after all!"

Few had seen the lord of Time so infuriated. He took a scythe.

"You know, this is not my scythe. Well, I do own it, but it is not my symbol of power. Because of you, it's still stuck in this volcano. Too bad. It won't absorb your soul. Oh, don't worry, It won't kill you either. It's a scepter of pain."

He then hit Skià with it.

Nothing.

Some awkward seconds.

"It's usually working.", admitted the lord of Time, taken aback. He then summoned a monster.

John is a cyclops.

He is a big monster with one eye.

He likes barbecue, subaquatic football, and freedom.

He doesn't like demigods (except in his meal), nor gods.

He was currently a guard of Orthys' castle. A proud monster, in a dark armor indeed.

He was proud, because his work was a daily reward. He was standing next to monsters far more powerful than him every day, and to be honest, he was a complete fan of them.

He loved to see powerful monsters, but Tartarus! He hated to see those titans. To him, monsters were one race, that needed to unite. If so, then they could finally go out of this pit so many of them had to call home, and go back to the surface, to live peaceful lives. He himself expected to become a mortal farmer after the Titans victory.

He hated to see those Titans, and when Chronos summoned him, he knew something was wrong.

A fellow monster was here, wrapped in Time, stuck, with Kronos. Kronos had a scythe. Without a word, he slashed it at him.

John's eyes widened. Then the blade touched a hair on his forearm.

John stopped reacting.

In fact, John ceased to exist immediately. He became something else.

A prey.

A prey in harm's way.

The pain in itself was not unbearable.

It was… everything else.

Describing those… _feelings_ with anything else than pain was wrong. It wasn't physical pain. And it wasn't mental pain.

It was like dying. A lot of nothingness drowns you, tear you apart, and split your essence in so many pieces that it would became a puzzle.

"See?" asked Kronos pointing at the cyclops rolling on the floor, shivering, crying, and definitively not in control of his body (nothing sane in control of its body would make those angles with their limbs). "It _works_. So why… is it not working on you."

He had said the last part as a child, pouting over his broken toy. Pressing it again and again over Skià's body, on his nose, in his eye, on his torso, over his heart…

Nothing worked.

"Pain's an old friend", quoted Skià in a whisper.

"What did you say?", asked the Titan lord.

"I said, old man, that pain's an old friend of mine. I trained alongside them, and now I know how to play hide and seek with them. Seems like pain stopped playing hunter. Well…"

The shadow engulfed his body still frozen in time, as he allowed power to flow in for once.

" **IT'S MY TURN, NOW** "

Arms of nothingness grabbed the primordial still weakened, and his eyes were forced open.

" **I THINK I FOUND PAIN. LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO EACH OTHER. PAIN, TIME. TIME? PAIN**."

Kronos felt the pain crawling in his soul, and he understood why Atlas was begging to go back under the sky.

But Chronos was a primordial.

So, no, thank you. He wouldn't go crawling in pain.

He left, for a second.

Or some millennia.

His very essence scattered. He then reformed.

"Such lowly little tricks won't work… on… me…"

Skià was gone. And so were the main trophies and treasures in the room. Chronos sighed. The kid was clever. Too bad he had such a weakness. Chronos refrained to squeal; he loved mind games so much!

Skià officially hated shadow traveling.

It was so tiering. Especially with one man and a half worth of treasures and goodies, he felt drained. Not empty, having inactivated his shields on mount Tam meant he was barely holding together from the sheer power (he had to use basically every spell he knew to keep the energy flow bearable, and to don't explode with it).

A wave of shadow washed the Queen Anne's Revenge, and objects became to fall.

"Well, well, well" said a voice. "If it isn't everybody's favorite shadow."

"PJ? I hate you. It's not funny."

"Well, it seems like you brought more than needed. So. Where's the box?"

"In the safest place we know of. I still don't know why it could help with our situation though?"

Annabeth came in with a set of armor.

"It might be a metaphor? Like in the Fate's plan of things, Hope is the only thing able to keep you in two pieces?"

Skià chuckled at the attempt of the joke, and with a high five, Percy was back.

"More like one piece, now."

"So.", said Annabeth trying to get back on tracks. "Any idea of why I was able to control the Labyrinth? I mean, before owning it officially…"

Percy made the boat stir in direction of the nearest entrance, and it soon jumped forward, at speed a wind-based ship should never achieve.

"My guess is as good as any… Maybe you've gained the domain of architecture? 'Would be coherent."

Annabeth nodded. If this was true, then her power wasn't limited to moving little objects with her mind, but she could become far more powerful.

She saw that the boat was for now moving on a river, and she tried to close her eyes.

The buildings around her made a network. She could feel not only the roads, but every stair, every block, every window. Waves of power were going through the state, and it took her some time to notice it was hers. Her power. She smiled.

"Well, I guess your guess was guessed pretty accurately. So, I just gained a domain like that?"

"Can't know for sure. It could be anything. Maybe you always had it, maybe there's a god or a primordial of architecture you pleased, maybe you filled a vacant place in the domain's rule. Can't know for sure.", he then mumbled about having to ask.

Annabeth just sat on the cannon, a move she only entrusted to make while on this ship.

"So, I'm the odd one, now?"

Grover came out of the cabin with a bright smile, and a light wood armor.

"I'm pretty sure we all are the odds one."

The ship then stopped suddenly, and the water didn't make anything as making a slight wave. Cordage made a bridge to the pier, and soon they were back on earth. Percy turned around, to see Calypso wave them bye.

"Don't forget to use Pindare!", shouted Percy.

Then Annabeth paused, put her hand on a wall, only to see it shake. The bricks that made it began to push inside of the building in a triangular shape, and soon, they spread, opening an entrance to the Labyrinth.

"I had no idea you could do that…", said Grover.

"So, it doesn't work only inside the maze, huh? Good to know.", said Percy.

Annabeth turned around and smiled.

"What are you waiting for? We have a battle to win."

Nico then fell out of a shadow.

"Ouch!"

"And here's the Ghost king. Care to save our 6?", chuckled the son of Tartarus.

Nico deadpanned.

"I… have no idea what you're meaning."

"Nothing", interrupted Annabeth. "Good to see you, by the way, Nico. Let's fight."

They entered the endless maze.

The wall closed behind them. They were now shut from the world.

"Okay, so I don't want to look like an idiot or something, but how are we going to find Time's army?", asked Nico.

Percy smiled knowingly.

"What's their realm?"

"What?", answered a dumbfounded Nico.

"It's Tartarus. My spells are locating them easily."

"You're using spells? How do you do that?"

"Oh. It's easy. Every use of your powers requires a spell, and…"

He froze.

"Percy? Are you alright?", began to worry Annabeth.

"Found 'em all. It's quite an army. Labyrinth, if you were so kind to…"

Percy didn't finish, as a new corridor opened on their left.

"And it's one hundred meters ahead."

They left the corridor nearly as soon as they entered it.

 _AND End! I know this chapter is short, but I intend to make a big battle in the next one, the first big battle really. I might have made myself some place in my schedule by reporting the update with this chapter by a few weeks (one if I'm exact, so don't worry, everything's alright!_


	26. Stalemates and troubles

_Hey! I'm on vacation, so this story is going to get a new set of chapters that I'm gonna just dump on y'all without warning because I'm just that lazy. On another hand, this chapter is a battle. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

Luke was… a bit pissed.

The point of having such a giant army was not to be stuck in front of a coliseum for the good old Antaeus. Because that was it. The door just wouldn't open. An army, a monstrous one. Blocked. By. A. Door.

To those wondering, no, trying to force it didn't do anything. It's the Labyrinth, not a playground. Two cyclops are now in dust from the basic security measures.

That's when Luke's day went from bad to worse.

"Having problems with the maze? Too bad, Styxer."

A dead man, who ended up with a sword in his very heart, was now joking at him. And his sister was beside him, along with his guardian.

Luke sighed, and went for the front lines.

The monsters were already in formation.

"I have to admit it is problematic, but don't worry. With Arianne's String, I can do anything I want, and I want your little camp burnt into the ground."

He then, for the sake of theatrics.

"You don't have the advantage of the number…"

"Neither did I when I made a volcano fly, Styxer…"

"And yet you come with Grover and Annabeth. I am… unsettled, with your choice. Why Grover? The old goat certainly has its use, but… well, there's only so much he can do. The same could be said with Annabeth."

"That's where you're wrong, Luke. There's so much more we can do."

They then jumped in the battle.

PJ went directly to Luke, and if his burning purple eyes were anything to go by, he had already fused with the most annoying shadow of them all.

One thing fiction has anchored in everybody's mind is the pose. When two swordsmen enter a battle of will, as their swords and their lives lock. Breaking the lock is a complete advantage.

Both Luke and Percy were smart enough to know that such a move is inefficient. Dodging is more effective than parrying, and redirecting one's smite is cleverer.

Their swords didn't stop.

Luke's sword didn't stop when Percy's went for his legs. He jumped behind, keeping his balance low, and keeping his momentum.

Don't let your opponent impose you their tempo.

Luke had to admit the gift Percy seemed to have with a sword, combining the unpredictability and the skill.

Generally, Luke was a good player, able to break the other's poker face to tell where the feints were going to be. It didn't work on Percy.

The darkness' sword came for his heart, too fast to be dodged, and Luke had to parry. Feint. The sword hit his arm violently, shaking his grip over his weapon.

Luke knew his skin was harder than the hardest steal, but Percy was going after the bones.

A strike to his knee, barely dodged.

Luke had bathed in the Styx, but he wasn't close to be a match for the son of Tartarus.

Not unless he requested a blessing.

Luke made some steps backward, letting a monster attempt to hurt the demigod in front of him.

When the golden dust settled down, his grip was once more strong, both over time and over his sword.

Slowing Percy soon proved to be impossible, so Luke decided to go with the next best option. He augmented his speed.

It took him a moment to regain his sight.

Everything seemed darker. Everything seemed to stop moving.

Percy's sword was now closing to his skull, maybe hoping to stun him? Pathetic. Luke grinned, and stepped aside. His sword was moving on its own, slamming into Percy's.

The moment was stretched to infinite.

As was the amounts of hits Luke's weapon made with the armor of his opponent, seeking to slow him down physically.

Until the son of Tartarus decided to stop playing by Time's rules.

The purple glow was now filling the room.

Luke stepped aside quickly enough to avoid being blasted by the sheer power rolling from the now shadow-armored son of Gaia.

Even in an instant stretched without limit, the growl of the Labyrinth was audible.

Luke smirked.

Now, that, was interesting.

They both jumped forward, and their swords began to insult the very concept of gravity.

Saying that any limb was holding them was now just a hunch. Those were only two blurs, defying the other's territory quite effectively.

Percy threw his sword at Luke, attempting to overpower him with shadows in his control.

A simple move of the wrist sent _umbra_ flying in the dark corners of the room.

Annabeth might have seen it coming, because a trap opened behind the son of Gaia, launching a spear he grabbed with haste.

He had now the advantage of the distance.

Percy was moving once more, trying to disarm the hero of time, trying to bring backbiter to a useless state.

So far, the metal was holding. But to Luke, the legendary weapon was becoming less and less balanced, as the material was deformed bit by bit.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the focus shifted from backbiter to his head.

The spear slammed in his hair, totally ruining the look.

But Luke had shifted just enough for the hit to bounce out of his skull, without really stunning him.

Doesn't mean he kept his earing. Oh, no. The buzzing sound was filling the world.

Luke kept fighting.

Percy's eyes kept flashing, trying to get a hold of his soul.

Too bad the only thing fear can't reach is time…

Luke's breathing was now hard enough to be considered at a normal state, even though his body was quicker than that.

Blood was on the side of Percy's mouth, as his internal organs organized a strike.

Then Annabeth entered the game.

* * *

From the very beginning, Grover had seen Percy jump to lock Luke in a dual, and, along with Annabeth, they were taking the army down.

Annabeth was really getting an understanding of her powers over Architecture it seemed.

The labyrinth was contorting to please its mistress, slamming walls into monsters, getting flamethrowers out of the wall, swirling blades from the ground.

The ranks soon broke, under the pressure of the unpredictability of each precise strike the oikodomekynethist (rough translation for Annabeth's powers).

Grover wasn't just standing there. He had a task to fulfil, and right now, he was repopulating the area with brown squirrels.

Cyclops, funnily, made his spell malfunction, and the squirrel ended with one big eye in their front.

Annabeth took her blade out of its hide, and began to use the distraction to dig her way in the battle.

A lot of people could feel like children of Athena aren't gifted enough. Like they hold no real power, like they just are clever. Those people don't understand the notion "knowledge is power".

Grover watched the daughter of Athena tear monster after monster, not wasting any movement. A swing of her knife was enough to turn a monster in dust.

She was instinctively understanding what position every monster had in the army, and swiftly eliminate the head before the main troops.

Of course, that meant Kampe too.

Now, with only her inherited powers, she would have a hard time facing such a monster all by herself.

But the labyrinth was jumping, swirling, moving every brick, every block, every trap with her, and in a dance of metal and marble, Kampe quickly ended with a pillar in her chest.

Then she turned around to see Luke, fighting Percy with everything he got, moving faster than ever.

She watched as Percy threw his sword away, attempting to break Luke's guard, and she just knew.

She just knew how much energy both of the fighters still had.

She gave Percy a new weapon, and began to make a way in this hell to help.

Grover stopped turning dracanae into mice as he got a better idea. He began to whistle a new song, and roots invaded the labyrinth, capturing then tearing monsters apart, decimating their army.

Retreat rang.

* * *

Annabeth saw Percy with a puddle of blood coming out of his mouth, and stepped in.

She blocked Like's strike, and dumbly overpowered him. Well, dumbly for her standards, as Luke lost his balance while having to dodge some roots that were now flowing out of the walls.

"Are you okay?", she asked.

"I am fine", grunted the son of Tartarus.

"Really? So you are not needing any help? Mmh… Doesn't feel that way."

"You know what? You hold Luke, I kill the monsters."

"I hold Luke? You really think I can't overpower him?"

"Be my guest", said Percy, as shadows began to wrap around him once more.

Then a deafening sound filled the Labyrinth, coming from two hells of purple.

A sound of pain. Not the sound of someone in pain, but a sound actually built from pain.

Shadows began to wrap arounds the monster, and when the spell wore off, the army was scattered. Half of it had disappeared.

Percy then turned back.

"Done. How are you with…"

Percy didn't finish that sentence, Luke was in a locked battle against Annabeth.

They were both fighting to survive instead of fighting for their cause.

Percy sighed, and called his shadow to make them form a blade for him.

He then jumped in the fight.

* * *

Luke was maybe feeling tired, but for a tired fighter, he was a god damned good one. Literally, I guess.

He was still managing to hold his own against his adoptive sister, but when Perseus stepped in, he knew the fight wasn't going to end well.

He kept parrying, his skill slowly melting away in an ocean of tiredness.

Maybe he could escape, if he managed to reunite his troops…

He looked in the room the Labyrinth had generated.

An army able to take down Camp Half brood ten times… had been brought to barely one hundredth of its capacities.

Something broke inside Luke. The unfairness of it all. The feeling to be so desperately right, but to still manage to get nothing right.

Something broke into him.

And something new built itself.

He was the chosen of Time. The champion of a primordial. Maybe he was going down. Maybe his time had come.

But that only made him more powerful.

Everything stopped around him for a bit, as he drew a large breath.

Then he looked at his sister, attacking in synchronization, in harmony. He smiled, genuinely happy.

His energy reserves were low, but that didn't mean he wasn't able to draw some more.

The good thing when one draws his power from time is that the power is virtually limitless. There's always time. Maybe a different one, but still a form of time. Even here, in a place that distorted his master's power. Even now there was power, raw power, just hoping to be used.

Luke inspired deeply. Closed his eyes. Reached a point of calmness. When his eyes opened, he began to see the power.

To see the state objects were in, to see where (or more precisely, when) they come and how long they can last.

When his eyes stood on Percy, he began to understand the blood now flooding from his mouth.

Percy had one minute to live.

Luke decided to be merciful. He took as much power as he needed, readied himself for one minute of fight, and, still connected to the very fabric of time, he let it flow.

Everything came back to life. Percy came back to dying.

Only one minute.

And then, retreat.

And then, victory, peace…

And then life.

* * *

 _Aaand, then you get it! I…_

 _Wow. I managed to depress myself. I'm just that good._

 _I really want for my version of Percy to survive, and I feel like I prepared enough for it to happen, but there's this part of me whispering in my ear "what about just breaking Annabeth, make Chronos win, and make her enter a resistance where she tries to bring back desperately her crush?"_

 _Then I take my medications. Voices in your ears are dangerous, people._

 _I joke, about the medication._

 _I'm not crazy. Well, I guess not, and… I'm rambling…_

 _Well, have a nice day, use your time to do what you love, especially if it includes reviewing! (wink)_


	27. Death and coping

_Well, i think we all know it was coming._

 _Let's kill the hero!_

* * *

Percy knew he was going to…

Let's just say… tire out.

He could feel his heart flutter in and out of life. He could feel his proteins slow down, his chemical reaction end one after another, and he was beginning to burn from the cold. His view was flooding with snowflakes.

The world was spinning around, like trying to catch his still moving corpse.

Percy split, and let Skià use the half of a minute he thought remained to find a way to use their artifact.

Luke was gaining terrain, only held back by Annabeth.

Umbra slipped from PJ's hand, planting itself in the floor, before Luke, stopping him right in his movements.

Lucky move.

Annabeth immediately jumped in attack, hitting right and left.

She didn't see PJ fall on his knees, his eyes becoming completely blank once more. The color moving from his face. His chest stopping to rise and lower.

He had only one last advantage to push Luke in his sleeve.

A certain Ghost King.

"Nico…", murmured Percy.

PJ transferred his last strength to Skià, who was stumbling on the bridge of the Queen Anne's revenge.

Then he fell face first on the floor.

Luke had won.

Sure, he had lost the fight. Nico, while being inexperienced in fighting, didn't pose a threat for the lightning fast swordsman. However, he was slowing the pace on Annabeth, helping her breathe,

* * *

Skià felt his connection to PJ fill with energy, and then… nothing. No darkness, no pain, no regrets.

No life either. No happiness, no desire, no light.

No such thing as nothingness, wasted Skià thinking, before feeling guilty.

Damn, his legs were heavy.

He reached the container, opened it, took the pithos, and fainted.

Well, not fainted, per say. He was still conscious. Well, as conscious as a shadow on the edge of death could be.

He opened the box of Pandora.

Light filled the room.

A bright green light.

Then Skià was blasted away.

* * *

A loud, powerful earthquake shook the entire labyrinth. Annabeth turned around, only to face her friend's corpse being buried in the ground.

All over the globe, monuments and buildings crumbled, some stairs fell, some statues began to sweat. In the sea, Amphitrite knew immediately what was happening, and some sea monsters got free from her grasp, ravaging the costs.

The lights on Olympus became dim, giving the final point in Athena's rhetoric about changing from fire to electricity.

* * *

Luke wasn't proud of his retreat, of course. But he finally managed to enter Orthys' fortress.

"What happened?", asked the lord of time.

Luke stood, as proudly as he could, and said:

"I took out Olympus' greatest asset, my lord. The shadow and the son of Hestia are no more."

Kronos pondered if this was a success enough or not.

"Are you sure, this time?"

"Last time they only achieved survival through a connection they both shared. With both dead, this is impossible, my lord."

"What about camp half-blood?"

"They still stand, sir, but Hestia's power must have reached a low peak. I think we could achieve to breach their barrier from the outside without a worry."

"Then what about Daedalus?"

"Like the prophecy said, my lord. _The Child of Athena's final stand.\Destroy with a hero's final breath_. We make the bomb explode, and we manage to destroy a useless thing we can't control even though they can."

"And what about: _And lose a love to worse than death_?", asked the primordial.

Luke actually gulped for this one.

"I-I think both the shadow and the son of Hestia were one and only person, my lord, they both died and two deaths are worse than one, certainly?"

"How do you know that, Luke?"

"I-I used your blessing, my lord, and when they were fused, I noticed how synchronized their existence was."

Chronos sat on his throne and thought about it.

"You've become quite powerful, Luke"

Luke took a very little step backward, that went unnoticed by Time.

"Only on your behalf, my lord."

"No… There's something wrong. _I_ didn't give you this power. Then who did?"

"Maybe this is the interaction of your blessing with my father's legacy? He used to bring the dead to Charon…", tried to explain Luke, talking maybe faster than he should.

"Then again, you were right… it _is_ an advantage we can't under-use… You've gained enough power to match Atlas' bane…"

"If I may say so, my lord, it was more luck than power or skill that managed to defeat the son of Hestia. Maybe I should train more? Life and death situations tend to make me more focused on my powers…"

"I could always give you more powers… But then… you might… What if?"

Chronos had now completely excluded Luke from his own report, while giving him a crippling feeling of pure stress…

"Power has always been a problem… Barrier… Troops… I know what to do next, Luke."

Luke sighed with pure relief.

"What is it, master?"

"We will use your ability to harvest power at its full advantage."

Chains suddenly knocked Luke down, restraining every limb, making his mind feel numb.

" _And lose a love to worse than death._ You will breach their defenses, Luke. Whether you want it or not."

Luke passed away, a dream with a bright explosion filling his mind.

A dream about him, white circles on his skin, having his soul burn from the sheer power of a primordial giving him way too much power for his own sake.

A nightmare Percy so often had.

He was a bomb.

Death let you at least keep a soul. What he had gained, was way worse. It was going to destroy his very being in the most dangerous and painful way.

* * *

On a certain boat, a jar closed.

In a certain ground, a corpse disappeared.

* * *

Annabeth was now back to Camp, looking everywhere for a trace of Percy, avoiding the groups of thankful, curious, interested, adventurous campers, trying to get the story from her. Grover was obviously tailing her in any way he could.

Ropes got down from the Queen Anne's revenge.

And soon Annabeth was pulled on the bridge.

She took no time to admire the view of the boat departing camp half brood, nor to answer any of its new captain's questions. Calypso was very understanding on that matter, letting Annabeth crash in a room the lower bridge contained.

And crashing she did, letting gravity take back her body, while Nico shadow travelled for the second time of the day, effectively sending him sleeping in cordage while trying to tell his motto: "a great power…"

His sister brought him in a room in the lower bridges, then came to Calypso.

"Do you think we'll make it through, Captain?"

Calypso looked at the sea, then at the young daughter of Hades.

"Your father did explain the situation to you, didn't he?"

Bianca nodded. Percy being out of the game, for whatever reason it is, meant no good. Strategically, he was a pillar for Olympus, able to carry every mission. He represented the help of both Hades and Hestia.

There was no telling what could happen next.

Well, from Bianca's point of view, it all depended on the remaining demigods. Either they could hold their own against Time's army, and they would enter defense of Manhattan while being prepared for a siege. Or they couldn't, and would be decimated. Camp Half-brood would be lost. Meaning the few survivors would try to use guerillas techniques, which would obviously not work.

Bianca had known only one demigod crazy enough to play mind games and psychological warfare with monster, and this man used to be the captain of this ship.

"We're toasted."

Calypso chuckled.

"Not as much as you want to believe. If we can unite with the hunters, while holding the island… Us, as the warriors of the Queen Anne's revenge could probably hold the rivers, and take the bridges down. If you mine the underground accesses…", she began snapping her fingers, obviously trying to find a better term. "Subway? Well, we could trap the mortals in. And the monsters out."

"Manhattan isn't prepared for a siege, there would be thousands of deaths!"

"What else do you think we can do?"

"We can use Hephaistos' help to begin with.", said Grover.

Both girls jumped in the air at the new voice they hadn't detected before.

Then they noticed a few blue sheets of papers rolled under the arm.

"Percy was ready to die… He was prepared and he let us that."

They were not blue sheets. They were blue prints.

Calypso wasn't in contact of technology since very long. However, that was more than enough time to understand the basic idea. She whistled a bit.

"I don't know about you, but I really think the Queen Anne was mad about something. This is not revenge… this will be…"

A war.

* * *

An eye opened.

A hand moved.

Fingers grasped the ground, holding onto life with everything they got.

Another eye opened.

A groan shook the earth with might and hurt.

Typhoon broke from his chains, while still getting out of his slumber. A rush of power through his entire body, a gush of Mist against his skin, and with a push of his legs, he began to stand.

Immediately, his internal compass pointed towards east. Towards a mortal city named New York.

The father of all monsters smirked, causing a tornado on the other side of the world.

Olympus would…

A mountain crashed on him. A mountain which used to be held by one's sheer power, a colossus of rocks, lava, and curiously, golden dust.

A colossus his size, his weight, that fell an incredible high before carefully destroying his skull.

Olympus would wait five more minutes, mom…

Typhoon got back to his slumber. And the mighty mount new Etna would hold the father of all monsters a bit longer.

Olympians looked at the scene with great interest.

Which mean silence.

A dead silence

"Okay…", began Apollo, "So… there go our biggest enemy…Who is your kid exactly Hestia?"

"Was. Who was my kid."

Looks turned to her, and in a spiral of flames, the eldest Olympian was out.

* * *

Two days after Percy ran out of battery (technically, nobody could say that he was dead…), the crew of the Queen Anne's revenge finally achieved a meeting with Hephaistos. Calypso chose Annabeth as her second in command, and they were still having the hang of pull a lever and you're in hell. Push it and you're on earth.

Pindare seemingly wasn't much shocked by his master's death, but sometimes he would just let himself sink without a care.

They received many visits, understanding little by little what kind of legacy Percy had let them maintain.

Percy's blueprints were certainly not perfect, and Hephaistos himself said that some entire parts of the mechanism were missing.

Knowing Percy, this wasn't exactly a mistake, so the god decided for apparently no reason that this was an humble way to say that Percy respected the talent of the god.

They all knew that this would take some Time, but they also knew how needed these updates were.

Annabeth was more often than ever chatting with her mother, discussing strategies. It seemed like they were taken seriously by the council. And this was the best feeling they could manage to get.

Zeus didn't come onboard, but they often received visit from Amphitrite.

That's when Hades decided to pop on the bridge.

"Hello, lord Hades. What can I do for you?", asked Calypso.

"Hello, Calypso. I just came here to inform you that we don't have detected Percy's soul in my realm, nor at the entrances. Either his soul burned up, or the kid has once again defied death. Well, the kid knows his rights, he technically didn't commit any infraction against the order of things. But still. He's gifted to find loopholes."

"Well, thanks for the information. Do you wish to see your children?"

"I-I shouldn't… Zeus might see…"

"The shields are up and running", said the nymph with a genuine grin. "You should go."

Have you ever seen the dark, lonely lord of the dead, god of the underground and its resources just smile like a child you gave a Christmas present?

Calypso did.

So did Annabeth.

And Grover.

* * *

 _And done!_

 _Well, this chapter was mainly to defuse the tension accumulated from the last one._

 _I wanted this chapter to be a bit of a complete view of the diverse repercussions this battle had. I regularily have comments asking me to include more battles. It is true that this is, it always has been, and seems to always will be a weakness of my style. I really can't describe action better than_ "They were hitting each other with skill." _  
_

 _I mean, if I remember correctly, last week's chapter ended mostly gloomy and dark… but then again, I might be wrong._

 _There's still a possibility of me definitively killing Percy as much as bringing him back. I like the crew's dynamic, and I really think I could work on that in the next chapter._

 _Oh, and for those who read those notes, with a great lot of inspiration, I will do… a post credit scene. For the others, well, let's say that I'm confused about what i can right next to make this outro seem unnecessarily long and useless...  
_

The pithos still in his room lighten his pattern up, filling rune after rune with a bright, green light.

Once the entire design was filled with energy, then a rather classic scenery appeared on the jar, with those dark red design that makes us remember of Greek pottery.

A flash of green later, the light was gone. So was the artifact.

"Ah? I could have sworn…", said Grover while coming in the storage place.


	28. Darkne§§ and C0nfvsion

Interlude

* * *

It's the tale of a hero, the most powerful hero in the entire world. It's the tale of a son of the eldest gods.

Now that fate is banana, we can try to shout for help.

Will reach sixteen against all odds.

Well, _that_ failed. Not the odds things, but reaching sixteen. He was pretty sure he hadn't.

Will reach sixteen against all odds.

Then again, all of the odds _are_ against him…

Eldest gods…

Hey, aren't the primordial gods the eldest gods? Is it a matter of interpretation?

Child of the eldest gods… A cursed blade shall reap.

Something's wrong.

Death isn't like this.

He's supposed to go through a… a raven? A ravager? A river?

Doesn't make any sense… Why is it so hard to sink?

Well, that's something to ask to Archimedes.

Death… Is he dead?

Is he?

I think therefore I am, said

Annabeth is gonna kill him.

Maybe you don't think when you're dead?

That's something important to ask to Uncle H d€s.

Wait… Uncle who?

That would make a great show, that… Uncle who. With a sonic pen to make horrid jokes.

Wow. Is that ADHD in all its splendor? Not being able to think straight for a second.

It sounds weird… ADHD-HD-HD.

Great, and now there's echo in his head.

Well, since he died in the Labyrinth, it would make sense that there's echo-ridor in his head.

That joke's awful.

So's death.

…

So he is dead?

So he's not. That's the thing. You die, because you're not dead. And when you die, you're not dead.

Is there a participial form for die?

Because he is died but not dead.

What color?

No, idiot, died, as in did die but is not dead.

Resurrection?

Is it not when the process makes you immortal?

Rebirth?

Well, you can't exactly say he is alive either, right now.

"Is it possible to calm down and to let me think?", growled a voice more powerful than the others.

"So the narrator is back online?", wondered sarcastically another one.

"I said **calm** **down** "

It the tale of a man named Percy.

Percy fight for a pantheon in a large world where he is called PJ.

His work as PJ was simple. He stood in the world and he solved quests.

And Percy…

Wait. Who is Percy?

What is Percy?

What's with this chapter? This is rigged! This is not what I wanted to read!

To… read?

Is he dead?

Is Percy dead?

Oh, well, said the narrator, you're getting closer to the answer.

How come closer? This doesn't make any sense!

That's the answer, answered the narrator. It doesn't make any sense. So does this chapter, and so does what Percy is living. What you are living.

Percy is in a jar. Locked up with hope.

Locked up by Hope. The capital letter is needed.

Percy regained consciousness, breathing. Finally, not sinking in a flow of thought that had no sense, no meaning, no finality. He shuddered at the thought. For one moment, it almost seemed as if he was just in a story published by an anonymous on the internet.

Certainly, his life had to have more meaning than that?

Percy shook the thought. It didn't matter. What matter was to escape his present predicament.

Then Percy turned around.

There was nothing before him, just a blank, empty space of white.

Behind him was the same thing.

He turned around a last time, only to see himself.

His body.

It had a weird feeling into it, like he knew this was his body, but he couldn't help but feel like this was occupied…

Well, he was a soul-traveler anyway. It certainly wouldn't be that hard to live without a body!

His body smirked.

"Perseus Jackson."

"Well, that's weird. Not a lot of people know that. Who are you?"

"I am the one that called you in your dreams. I am the one you called for help. I am Hope. Welcome to the box of Pandora."

"Thank you?"

"No… thank you, sit down, we have a lot to discuss."

Percy was about to tell Hope that he had no chair, but a feeling behind his knees told him to shut up.

As soon as he sat down, the white walls melted away in a perfect replica of Percy's ship.

"Ask the question you want, Percy."

"Wh-Ho- Am… Am I dead?"

"Not exactly. You aren't living either… Yu are somewhere in between, your power hanging you to both death and life without any of them having a claim over your soul. But a little more of weight, and KNAP! Your soul will burn up."

"Why did you call me?"

"Does your power not work on me, Perseus? I thought Hestia's blessing would allow you to grow over those questions."

"You have no soul. So it's not possible. You have no soul, no essence. You aren't. You don't exist."

"I am very much real. But yes, I don't exist."

"Hope doesn't exist? I… What is that supposed to mean?"

"Hope doesn't need to exist to be real. The human mind, as well as the immortals' , is quite simple. It wants. Sometimes it wants an answer, other time it wants a partner, other time it wants power, but the mind is just that. A will."

"This doesn't answer my question."

"Then try to answer this one. What is hope?"

"You?"

"No, I mean the definition of hope."

"It's … the ability to… will… stuff to happen?"

"Not far! I am _a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen_."

"So what?"

"I am the future, not as it will be, but as you want me to be. With enough luck, or work, you can get me to be real, or dismiss me."

"It's nice and all, but what's my role into all this?"

"Your role is simple. You're the hero. The bringer of hope. I want to make that literal."

"O…kay then, and how do you plan to do that? I am not much of alive right now, so…"

"I heard you had some energy problems."

"I… won't formulate that way, but basically, yes. I have too much power to bear."

"Good. Then I want you to give me power."

"What's in for me?"

"I give you freedom."

…

"Now, I know what you're thinking: was I not free already?"

"Mostly wondering what was in my coffee this morning, but please, do enlighten me."

"Let's say that hope is often wrongly considered as a good thing. Now please don't think of me as evil. I'm not. I am not good either. As much as the world is not divided between good and evil, neither am I. I am the only part of mankind that's free."

"And you're stuck in a jar."

"Exactly."

"That's counterintuitive…"

"I like to be. I think that paradoxes are part of my essence. People do hope for everything, sometimes things contradictory!"

Percy nodded. _That_ was a logic he could follow entirely.

"And what's my status, if I agree to your little contract? Champion, slave, helper, partner?"

"Please, I am not a god. I don't have _slaves_."

They both chuckled.

"No, you, my boy, would be my avatar. My incarnation in earth."

"Does that mean that I will have your voice nagging in the back of my mind?"

"Of course, it does!"

"Do I remain in control of my actions?"

"From me, yes. From the others… that is for you to plan and play."

"It seems like a pretty good deal…"

"It is! Well, it is for me too. Demigods belong to two worlds, mythological and mortal. _This_ means that they can accumulate power way more efficiently than mortals, or even gods."

"And then they reach their limits and blow up."

"Yes."

"Then how come there are so little of us with so much power?"

"The gods don't want you to blow up, Percy. Usually, there are limits set to slow the process enough for it to never reach a critical state. But, with getting new powers, you change your essence, meaning that you change the limits, and they eventually erode too much to bear any importance."

"So… I put Annabeth in harm's way."

Hope smiled and shrugged sadly.

"I'll stay honest with you, Percy. Yes."

"Wow."

Percy just let his soul flinch backward, the chair holding his back before gravity could claim t change his position more.

A tired voice just asked.

"H-how long?"

"Way longer than you it is! She's a child of Athena, the process could take years to happen properly. Or one traumatic experiment."

"Then there's still time to figure something out! Could you… extend the deal to her?"

"Not unless I want to blow up in one year or two… I am no primordial! I can't stand the amount of power you two would generate!"

"Then we have to find another Entity to hook her with…"

"Okay, really bad choice of words, here."

"Maybe the labyrinth?"

Hope titled its head.

"Well, you know what they say…"

"Please don't make a joke about your domain", begged Percy.

"As long as there's life…"

"Please, there's still time…"

"There's Hope!"

Hope acted as if punched by laughter, barely holding on his chair, tears visible in his eyes.

"And we're going to talk telepathically… Won-der-ful.", said Percy while massaging his brow.

"I know, right?"

Hope's question was met with silence.

"So do you agree?", asked the entity.

"I need to go back as soon as possible. So why not."

"Cool."

"Does there need to be an oath, or something?"

"I already told you. I am not a god. If I wanted, I could have enforced upon you the position of my avatar. I won't, but that means that there is no requirement for me."

"Nice. So, where is the exit?"

Hope looked as if this was a very funny joke.

"There's no exit."

"How do I leave, then?"

"Oh, you don't. You need somebody to open the box from the outside."

"And you couldn't tell me that before, because…?"

"Oh, I could. Just trust me on this one. Just invade some dreams, and it's all gonna be cool. During the waiting time, I could train you!"

"Mhm…"

"Not in fighting skills, of course! Just in invading dreams. Tonight, we begin with your friend Rachel."

"Why her ad not Annabeth directly?"

"Because my color is green, her initials spell RED, therefore I have a grudge with her."

"I'm pretty sure I'm so gonna enjoy this partnership!"

"And who wouldn't?"

Yeah... who wouldn't

* * *

 _It is short, but I am currently having an exam._

 _Other than that, I really hope you liked it, because I sure did. I hope the first part of the chapter didn't bother anyone, and if it did, i am sorry. I just think that you don't think straight after awakening from a near death experience in a pocket dimension.  
_

 _If anyone feels like giving me more knowledge about the subject, don't min commenting about it!_


	29. Agent RED

Turns out Chronos didn't need a lot of time to build another army. And yes, Calypso had intended this pun.

Queen Anne's revenge was back in business, and in a better state than before.

The boat was now equipped with lifeboats.

That sounds boring? Don't forget that they were designed by Percy.

The boat rushed in the beach in San Francisco to defeat another defensive outpost built by the Titans in the last week. As soon as it touched the sand, gears began to turn in the lifeboats, and they jumped into work, spreading around the boat, and hovering it on legs. Pindare retreated back to the depth of the sea with a low growl that hopefully meant "good luck". It might as well mean "I hunt you", but nobody knew exactly how to speak sea-monster.

For one second, nothing was moving. The next one, the legs were strengthened by doubles celestial bronze plates as well as a magical shield for them.

They then began to move, and The Queen Anne's revenge began to morph into something else.

The masts reorganized to build a chassis over the bridge. Sails closed, and a few cannons jumped out of the newly morphed structure, covering every angle.

Bianca was already in her seat in the inside of the beast, covering every angle to shoot.

Mortals were talking about a "tank", but Calypso gave them no attention, not even worrying why her boat looked to them as a container for fluids.

"Annabeth, navigate us to direction. Grover, you are on the radar. Every monster closer to us than mount Tam is to be blasted.", ordered Calypso.

They both nodded and jumped into their posts.

"Nico, you're our ghost king. Take your time, but I want a squad of zombies to take them by behind, so they either serve as a distraction or attacker if we attract to much attention."

The ground shook in agreement as it started to vomit undead.

"Annabeth, status?"

"All systems optimal, and turn to the right on the next street.", said the daughter of Athena.

Calypso turned the wheel to move the boat.

It reacted within the instant, legs moving the boat close to the building while still not touching it.

"The second on the left, and then we should reach the hangar they use as their QG.", announced Annabeth.

"Bianca, I want you to send them a welcoming message."

"Right away, captain!", said a voice below.

Soon, magic missiles exited the flank, turning upwards before launching, in a beautiful parabola.

Of course, they were stopped before touching the compound, but this doesn't mean they were wasted. They restrained the enemy energy wise, while forcing them to attack from below, where protections were at the strongest.

"Captain, monsters at 5. Dracaenai, 6 of them.", warned Nico.

"Bianca?", asked the captain.

"Right away."

Three seconds later the radar only showed the enemy base, as the dracaenai were… back to Tartarus the painful way.

The ship was now renown in the enemy rank for that: its efficiency. Sure, there was only one of it, but it could blast base after base barely slower than they were built. And they were built very quickly due to time magic.

The Queen Anne's revenge and its crew was feared, and even the demigods on it knew it.

Curiously enough, the Princess Andromeda quickly joined the decks of San Francisco and ended the cruise for monsters.

This didn't mean that the gods were winning the war. Not at all.

The camp (no 's' because the large signal they got from the other side of the bay was nothing, for the Olympians) was overflowed with monsters. Every other day, the activities were interrupted by a group of hellhounds, or cyclops, died on the defenses while injuring always more campers.

Chiron had already asked Olympus a new system of defense, and the crew just tell Olympus to go… enjoy… themselves and to think about proper defense instead of using their only trump card on offense to do it.

Athena nodded in agreement, her tan still (once again curiously) reddened in what seemed to be… anger?

Turns out gods don't exactly appreciate being turned down with every aspect of language by a former inmate freed by a missing mystery.

The hangar came into view.

A good thing was that at least, a monster (probably an hyperborean, from the icicles remaining under an iron bar), had the idea to paint the building in red, making it a literal target for the cannons.

The ship stopped in the middle of the streets, its side defying the base.

A wave of monsters immediately got out, bursting through a wall, to show their armors to the cannons.

It looks like the cannons liked.

At the end of the next ten seconds, only the armors remained.

"Okay, Bianca, I want you to attack the base of the buildings on the pillars that keep it up", ordered Calypso.

Bianca didn't nod. The blue rays of light that melted the iron structure did it for her.

Soon enough, the hangar began to lack stability, and promptly collapsed.

"Good, team", said the Captain. "We move to the pit for a pause. Grover, Nico, you're on meal duty. Annabeth, you're with me, we have to plan the next operation on the Kansas' outpost. Bianca, reverse us into floating mode, and set the table."

A groan and a pull on the lever later, the crew was on the Phlegeton. Calypso and Annabeth hid in the strategic room, while Bianca took control of the lifeboats from her post of command.

The boat once more in a boat form, she got to the living room.

The room was quite empty at first, as Percy needn't furniture. But now, it had a table big enough to make the whole crew fit, a sofa for the pauses, as well as posters of different movies on the walls (curtesy of Nico).

From her time in the first Titan war, Calypso remembered that the moral had a great importance, and allowed the decoration as long as it was still able to fit everybody.

The middle bridge still had enough space to fit the chambers, and the cargo deck was used as such.

Bianca did as ordered and sat on the sofa, using the shelves on the side to pick a book and read.

Thanks to Annabeth, they were all translated in ancient Greek.

The only problem being the amount of them having Architecture as a theme.

Soon enough, the meal was ready, and the leading two (nickname Nico gave the captain and her second in command) came back to eat.

"We're missing eggs", said Nico.

"And Enchiladas.", added Grover.

Calypso sighed, turning to her second.

"Well, I guess it's time to go shopping for the afternoon. I'll go see if Daedalus didn't let us anything after blowing up that could be of use", said Annabeth.

"Yeah, and we'll go find Calypso an eyepatch." Added Nico.

"I still have both of my eyes working.", informed the captain.

"Yeah, but that would really make you look like a pirate, and quite frankly, it would be _so_ cool!"

Bianca sighed in despair.

"Do we need to plan a detour for anybody else?", asked Calypso.

"I'll need to chat with Central park about faun evolution. Oh, and I would also need to go to Mexico, there's a region that need a boost to turn in a real asset for water retention in the development of a forest. Annabeth, can you give me a lift there?"

"Yeah, sure. Just be precise with your coordinates. I hate opening entrances to the Labyrinth for nothing."

A second later, Calypso finished eating her leaf of salad, and gave her orders.

"It's decided, then. Grover, Annabeth, you go together, and don't forget to take a drachma to Iris-message me, and I'll go with Nico and Bianca to a store. Anybody know what city?"

"Go for New York. The Olympians are testing their defenses on their turf, and that will give you a certain peace monster-wise. Make the boat pop back into Central park, and we'll kill metaphorically (don't worry, Grover), two birds with one stone", proposed Annabeth.

"Good", praised the captain. "Finish eating and we're good to go."

The dessert was pineapple slices. This means that they were out of pineapples too, noticed Calypso.

Well, happily she knew how to deal with this kind of problems since she had experience from the first titanomachy.

* * *

Rachel, for once, followed the instruction.

She very quickly found the hideout in Louisiana, as it was exactly as described in her dreams.

A mark appeared on the door, and as she pressed it, she entered the hangar.

It had pylons all over, as if a plane or a boat was built in there. The place as dusty, as if nobody had used it in months. Which, she figured, was probably the case.

It had a cabin on the side, with a stair allowing access. Under it, equipment was stored in the most… chaotic way.

She climbed the stairs on her left.

The stairs gave access to a windowed door. The office had blueprints all over them, describing a pirate ship under every angle, and with a ton of different ways it could act.

Complex prototypes were on the desks, and a lamp was still lit weakly.

She turned the handle of the door. Closed. As told by her dream.

The wall next to the door opened in a small square, where a numpad made its appearance.

She tapped in the code she had still in memory even though it was way too long for her own liking.

The door creaked her access in.

Desk with a computer (very old one, by the way), third drawer from the top on the left column.

She took the file, which had a very detailed explanation of the influence of Greek myths on the mortal world, as well as the different ways to use it, and everything she needed to know.

On the last page, was a post-it.

"If you were granted access to this file, then please re-use the way you gained your orders for further explanation as well as your new position."

Did that meant… that somebody was hiring her?

She returned to her hotel, with the file, studying with more attention every aspect of the maze underneath the earth, as well as a theory about a certain kind of mortal that could use it.

Iris messaging, shadow-travel, Gray sisters, automatons everywhere around the globe, groups of more friendly monsters, location, specialty, theories about the position of Atlantis, a quick explanation of the hunt (with a red marker's trace saying females only). Different ways in and out of Tartarus, healing sources, ways in and out of the underworld, sources of prophecy, source of power, theories, theories, theories.

She didn't realize she was dreaming until the voice of Percy greeted her.

"Hello, Rachel. Or should I say, agent RED."

"PJ.", she greeted back.

"Please, as long as no god is listening, call me Percy. So, what do you think of my files?"

"Why me? I mean, you wrote it yourself, there are many groups in this war involved, so…"

"Why you? Think about it, Rachel. Who, in that stuck ass world that is modern mythology, cares about mortals except for having ki-weapons with them?"

"You use me because nobody knows who I am except you. You planned this from the very beginning."

"Yes. Unreferenced players are always the best of the trump cards. Especially when those trump cards are totally immune to one of the major forces at play in the war, namely the Mist."

"So what? You use me because I'm useful to you?"

"I won't lie to you, yes."

"At least, that's honest."

"Rachel, I'm currently dead…", began Percy.

"Are you alright?", asked the mortal in evident worry.

"Sure, I'll come back from it, but right now, my mobility in the game is reduced to very close to none. And if I lose, then we all lose. If the Titans wins the war, you'll be at best a slave, and at worst…"

He shivered, which seemed weird to Rachel.

"I know you want to matter in this world, and that's what I give you. The ability to matter, to act, to fight, while being as safe as I can keep you."

"Geeze, thanks", said Rachel with sarcasm.

"No problems.", answered Percy with a big smile on his face.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"For now, I want you to contact Calypso with an Iris message. Keep your identity a secret, just say you're RED. A drachma should be somewhere in my office."

"What do I tell her?"

Percy's grin reached a point no face should ever reach.

"You tell her that you have information for her, and tell her to look at something called Camp Jupiter. Tell her that she shouldn't interact, just be prepared to act with the knowledge of all the players on board, meaning you too, in a way."

"So you're going to use me to distribute information?"

"Yep. Now you also need this kind of runes on you to hide you from the gods. They should tap into Hope for energy. Good luck, agent RED."

The dream dissolved into nothingness.

"Agent RED, huh? I like that."

* * *

 _And one more badass girl coming! Seriously, I'm thinking about making Rachel a character a bit like Oracle in Batman (because I'm funny like that)._

 _I personally like to think of her as a secret agent hiding behind an artist figure._

 _Well, anyway, have a nice day, and enjoy your life._


	30. RED and rainbows

It was night, dark outside, and the rain was playing with the Queen Anne's revenge. Currently, the boat was floating near France.

In the dining room, a rainbow appeared. Immediate, everybody took a defensive pause.

The boat's magic was defending it against godly intrusions and that meant that very rare were the people able to bypass the security. It seemed… unconventional that Iris would be one of them.

A distorted voice rang in the room. The rainbow didn't show anything else than a shadow speaking.

"Hello, captain Calypso."

"Who are you?", asked said captain beneath her teeth, not relaxing for any moment.

"I am RED. Of course, that's not my real name, but the information you should be looking for is whether I'm on your side or not…"

"Are you?", asked Annabeth.

"I am. Nobody will win anything if the Titans win, not even me. I came here to present myself, and to tell you that I've been designed to be your informant."

"Designed by who?", asked Nico.

"That, I'll keep a mystery for now. Let's just say they have your interest at heart."

"Why that?", asked Grover.

"Let's see, lord of the wild. You're an alternative to gods and titans alike. You're the third component, and even if you ally yourself with the gods now, I think you have enough… freedom to roam around and act like you want."

"Okay, and?", asked Calypso.

"You don't know all of the players on the board yet, and I called you to rectify that. Look into camp Jupiter. They have a say in this war. I think you should wait before interfering with them, as they often like to see everybody as an enemy. By the way, I'm now another player on the board."

"Why should we trust you?", asked the captain, with a nod of her crew.

"I don't expect you to trust me. I expect you to take my words of advice into consideration.", said RED with a smile.

"And what are you?"

RED didn't answer right away, carefully thinking their words.

"All you've got to know is that there's one way to kill me, so I'm no god or goddess. Well, that's enough from me. Oh, and don't forget to don't tell the gods about my existence. The secret I told you I well kept, and I don't want them to start looking for me, even though I know how to hide."

The iris message dissolved into nothingness.

Annabeth deployed her computers, and began to search for Camp Jupiter.

Mortals had no idea it even existed, but Daedalus' technology began to quickly decipher the Mist, connecting to satellites, hacking its way into the most secure databases.

"I know what this is.", she announced after two minutes.

"And?"

"And they are an equivalent of Camp Half Blood, but for Roman demigods."

"And when you say roman, you mean?", asked Nico with a little voice.

"I mean as in Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto."

Silence.

Everybody very slowly turned to Calypso.

"What are you looking at me for? I don't know anything about it, I barely know who you're talking about. I was trapped for millennia!"

"Okay. Are there any pantheon we should worry about?", asked Annabeth.

"Nah, don't worry, the Egyptians like to keep it down."

Everybody face-palmed.

"So, we got gods don't know how many pantheons out there…", began Annabeth.

"And nobody thought it might be a good idea to ask for help?", asked Bianca.

"I mean people died!", said Nico.

"I think Olympus is keeping them as contingency plan.", said Calypso. "And as much as I hate it, it's the best option. If we fail, then they keep the mortals safe. Or they simply don't care."

With a simple nod, everybody agreed to this idea.

* * *

Thea was a fun kid. I mean, for an orphan who saw her father die by a car accident, she was petty swell.

She had a love for bright colors. She knew how to pull a prank, and was one of the most reliable source of information in her school. For some reason, she was always involved at a point where she was suspicious, but not enough to get punished.

That was until the… thing in front of her decided to kill her friends. She ran. It seemed to entertain the beast. It was a sick hide and seek, where the stakes were her life, and it seemed the huge lion/snake/horror thingy had a compass for her.

The closet door closed, and she mentally cursed at her stupidity.

She was now stuck, in a dead end, with a 9 feet tall beast that had something after her.

She took her knees, and did what every 9 years old would do in her situation, she cried.

The looks of the dead emerged from her memories. The goo of guts, blood and brains haunted her mind.

She wasn't ready to die.

Maybe her life was pointless overall. Maybe. But she had this feeling. She had to live.

A slow growl gave her an idea of her distance from the beast, and she began to crawl backward, eventually hitting the wall opposed to the door.

She tried to breathe. Having had ADHD all her life, just resting and breathing seemed pointless, but now… Maybe the creature was feeling her fear? She remembered a post-apocalyptic film she had managed to sneak in somehow. The one with beast that smelled your fear.

And right now, every percent counted. Every chance of survival.

She needed to live.

The… thing decided to act like a cat, scratching the door with a low whine.

She didn't fall for it.

The door did.

When the student used to complain about the quality of the doors, of the strange noises it used to make when you opened it, she used to sigh while thinking that they expected too much. Right now, she wished the doors had been steel instead of wood.

She creature looked at her, and _licked its lips_.

A paw gained some height.

She began to beg in her head, for something, anything.

The paw gained some speed.

She closed her eyes, and readied herself for the feeling of dust on her face.

…

Wait…

What?

She… she was alive? Okay, now, _that_ , was cliché.

Like, so cliché it might have killed her instead.

"You can open your eyes."

She did so and saw a flickering form barely looking like a man.

"Who… are you?"

"Name's Percy. And you managed to invoke me, which is absolutely no small feat."

"Y-you must be wrong, I c-can't…"

"breathe. I have a minute or two to spare with you anyway, and now that I've seen your soul, I can go in your dreams."

"I can't invoke spirits?"

"Not only you can, but you kinda did. But I'm afraid I'm no spirit. The correct terminology would be avatar of Hope. You must have a strong connection with my element, somehow, and that's why you managed to invoke me for a little time."

"An avatar of Hope?"

"Yeah...? It's kinda ridiculous, but I'm trapped somewhere because if I leave by myself I die. So you opened the Pandora box by yourself."

"What happened to…"

"The Chimera? Killed it. Might have only one percent of my essence present, but that's still enough to do it."

Stars entered her eyes.

"You'll teach me?"

Percy smiled warmly, tilting his head, and going on his knees to be on her height.

"The first thing you're going to have to do is to invoke me again, okay? I'll be in your dreams, and once you've managed that, you'll be good. Until then, I'm gonna warn a friend of your presence. Don't move too much, and… leave this place. They'll find you if you stay."

The man became more transparent, and fear came back in her eyes.

"My time's up. Don't forget to sleep well and to move!"

* * *

"Okay Rachel…"

"What do you need me to do?"

"There's a kid that managed to invoke me."

"You mean… as a ghost?"

"Not exactly, but mostly yes."

"You want me to go interrogate her?"

"No, I want you to go and take her under your wing. You're both artists, you'll like each other."

"Is that a hunch?"

"No, that's my champion of Hestia's side."

"So, where is she?"

Percy looked behind him, in a space that looked empty to her, and his lips began to move, as if talking.

Turning back after two minutes, he touched her forehead, and she began to feel a pull.

"Okay, I had Hope place a marker on her which you'll be able to follow. It's mostly like an empathy link, except it's less dangerous and less powerful."

"So, what do you expect me to tell my father. I saw a homeless girl and took her in?"

"Both of you are gonna invoke me again, and I'll use the Mist on her to make her invisible to normal mortals. No offence."

"Plenty taken", she joked back.

"Well, I'm going to warn her. Have a nice night, agent RED."

* * *

Thea was in a land of rainbows and sunshine, looking at kaleidoscope colors turning in the sky.

She was currently holding a giant key to open a box. A box made of rock paper.

Scissors?

A voice behind her made her turn.

"Hello, Thea."

It was the flickering man.

"The name's still Percy."

"Did you just read my thoughts?"

"I'm in your dreams. There's always some sorts of mind reading in these cases."

"Fair enough."

Percy began to look around, and an epiphany seemingly hit him.

"So. Daughter of Iris, huh?"

"I'm an orphan."

Normally, this information earned her a sad look from the adults, but Percy didn't seem to think so.

"You would have been safer if you had."

"And that means?"

"You know, the Greek gods and stuff?"

"Yeah?"

"They exist, and what was hunting you was a Greek monster."

She took the information in.

"So… what are you in all that?"

"A demigod, just like you."

"But, to be a demigod, that would mean that one of my parent is a god, so…"

"In your case, it's your mother. From what I see in your memories, your father was a genius artist with colors, and that's what attracted her."

"But, then, why didn't she take care of me?"

"She isn't the most powerful goddess around, I mean I'm probably more powerful than her. I think that she gave you heirloom over Hope."

"Over Hope?"

"Yeah, you can control Hope. Normally, it wouldn't be any powerful, but since Hope gained an avatar…"

"I can invoke you."

"Yep."

She sat on the grass, quickly followed by Percy.

"So… can I control you or something?", she asked.

"Don't be so power-hungry! For your information, you can just attract my attention, nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh."

"Yeah, by the way, I sent you a friend of mine before hopping in. She should present to you as agent RED."

"Like a spy?", asked Thea with big eyes.

"Yeah… like a spy. Then I'm going to place some spells on you, and you'll be alright."

"So I'll have to invoke you?"

"Yep. Tell me, what did you feel when you invoked me."

"Uhh… I was stressed, I was… I needed to stay alive."

He looked pensive for a moment.

"Huh. So, hopelessness attracts hope… That's… _unexpected_..."

"So what? I have to be in danger to call you?"

"Nah… just… just let the situation flood in."

He then stood up, and looked at her.

"I'll stay in contact with you. But right now, you should wake up. And Thea? Stay unsafe."

White flooded in.

* * *

Runes floated in the air. Casted by anybody, they could do nearly anything. A piece of paper appeared on the board of The Queen Anne's revenge.

"You might want to draw conclusions from Iris' domains.

Agent RED"

Calypso sighed a massaged her brows.

* * *

 _And it's over! Good night everybody!_


	31. Red rainbows and silver

Agent RED came.

Like her own ghost had warned, Thea was now taken care of, and multiple spells were soon placed on her by the rich young woman.

Quite quickly, they both warmed at each other, since they both shared the same love of bright, colorful pieces of art.

You always could find them talking about their favorite painting from Van Gogh, whether that piece was just sold was overrated or not, and such things.

Sure, Thea was slowly gaining some rather strange habits, only eating biological products, but the girls had clearly no problems buying them.

Agent RED was slowly becoming to the young demigod like a big sister.

There was another hobby they shared, and that hobby was acquiring intel. Since it was the second day of fall, going out and asking people what they thought about the Titan apocalypse, but mortals still had enough social networks to communicate information.

And when you know where to look, it all becomes clear.

The Titans were clearly overtime, raising as many bases as possible to win a war that clearly had become a war of position. Some attacks groups were sent by both sides, but none of them was as clearly seen that the Queen Anne's revenge.

For an invisible boat, that's rather strange, don't you think?

Anyway. Word on the monster's side was that the titans were developing another kind of bomb that would be used to blast Camp Half-Blood open. Of course, Percy had told both young spies the implications of Hestia's temple falling into rumble.

Since the temple was Queen Anne's revenge anchor into this world, any damage sustained by the building was a risk to let the boat slip into nothingness, claimed back into the Styx along the broken dreams.

Thea was slowly learning how to use her powers, and excepted using the rainbows as flashbangs, it seemed her best offensive ability was calling Percy for help.

Such an offensive ability was weirdly more used when there was a meal that needed to be cooked.

Of course, Perseus took offense of that, but seeing both spies as his little sisters, he didn't mind too much.

Still enough to cook the saltiest meal in history, which, by the World Health Organization (doctor W.H.O.?) would have enough salt to pass the human daily limit at least twelve times.

Such a meal was not finished, and Thea quickly learnt how to cook.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You have intel from Hope that the new base of Oceanus is going to be in some trenches unknown to man?"

"Yep. Those trenches are hidden in plain sight by the Mist, and they currently are located near the north pole. Those trenches are quite special, because they are infused with Pontus' power, meaning that like everything in the Mythological world, they move continuously. But since the sea doesn't like to be restrained, they don't move along Olympus. They are on the north of Russia. Their boat's radar should be able to pinpoint the signature as soon as they caliber it to emit Atlantis' signature frequency."

"I still don't get it. How does Hope know all that?"

"Pandora's box restrains you without restraining the flow of energy. You can still affect the outside world, as long as you remain inside. The only reason I can leave it at all is because Thea is invoking a small part of my consciousness. I'm not going to lift a volcano tomorrow in this condition."

"So Hope is able to see everything?"

"As long as there's a living creature with enough consciousness nearby, yes. He basically is invoked in every living creature at the same time."

"Then why can't he manifest like you?"

"Hope doesn't live. I do."

Rachel nodded, while Thea finished the math exercise the oldest artist had given her.

"So I assume you want me to give them another call?"

"Yep. After all, I did give you the money and the way to do it, didn't I?"

"Okay", said Agent RED, "Thea, can you blast Percy back in his box? I have to call the people he's hiding from. You know, for no reason at all."

Percy sighed as he flickered out of existence. A formula later, the IM was stabilized. It seems the crew of the Queen Anne's revenge was playing scrabble when Agent RED called, and it was with no surprise that she noticed that the game was in ancient Greek. Grover was apparently not there, most certainly in a park somewhere on earth to help to Nature's regrowth.

"Hello, Avengers of the Queen Anne.", greeted the red-haired spy.

"Okay, can we stop for a second?", asked Nico. "Just wanted to say. That name's great, but a mouthful. Just call us the Crew."

"Nico", growled Calypso. "Let us speak."

"Okay. 'Was just saying."

"Good.", said Rachal. "I have information to give to you about a base Oceanus have created."

"Oh? I thought he was staying neutral?", asked Bianca.

"Not at all. He's aligned with the other Titan and is trying to regain his domain over the sea. His base is situated in a trench on the north of Russia. Calibrating your radar to the frequency of Atlantis should give to you a more correct position."

"And how are we supposed to intervene?", asked Annabeth. "the Queen Anne's revenge doesn't exactly go under water."

"Geez, I don't know, ask the queen of the oceans?", said Thea.

Everybody looked at the 9-year-old kid.

"This is agent Rainbow. My apprentice.", said Rachel.

The crew nodded in understanding.

"She is correct, though", began RED, "I assume you know the ties your boat has with Amphitrite?"

"She gave us Pindare?", asked Nico in a small voice.

"Yes and no. She blessed the boat and its crew. Officially, she is one of your patron. I think you could ask her for help, and as soon as your respectful, I think she'll relieve the idea of doing something game-changing."

"Wait? How do you know…", began Calypso.

The IM closed.

* * *

"…that?", finished Calypso while the IM closed.

"Well, RED is as mysterious as normal.", said Bianca with a sigh. "Still weirded out by the idea of her having an apprentice, though. Just imagine if she gets her to her level, they could control the mortal world in the shadows."

"Just hoping that Avengers of the Queen Anne doesn't stick.", said Nico.

"I'm still not sure about RED being a her. Their voice is so modified it could be a male", announced Annabeth.

Bianca laughed.

"Please. The only male that could do that is Percy."

"y-you don't think…", began Nico.

"No, Percy has no link to the color red. Eventually purple, or even green, or black. Not red', explained Annabeth.

Calypso clapped her hands to make the conversation fall back in tracks.

"We have to check north of Rush Iah. As soon as someone get me a map, we'll get going."

Nobody worried about rectifying her, because a shadow entered the room.

"So, here's my son's legacy", began Tartarus.

Silence filled the room.

"Okay. Who're you again?", asked Nico, even though he had earned a glare from the entire crew.

"I am Tartarus. The place you're currently in. I came here to ask you some questions."

"Ask away", said an unimpressed Calypso, "but we have to get going."

"What happened to my son's corpse? My wife had it, and then it poofed out of existence."

"Wait. Percy's body disappeared? By all of the laws of comic books, that means he's still alive!", exclaimed Nico.

"Nico, you're a moron.", said a tired Bianca.

"If such was the case, son of Hades, then my son would have already intervened in some sort of affair, and neither my wife nor Nyx learned a thing about him."

"We don't know, lord Tartarus.", said Annabeth respectfully, "but I think that looking for someone called Agent RED could be the first step for you to find out."

Tartarus tilt his head in interest.

"There's no figure linked to the Greek world that took this name. At least none known to Nyx."

"Well, we think they're a girl, and she gets a lot of intel. She's kind of a spy.", explained Nico.

"For now, we have decided to trust her, since she just give us information about the Titan's plans. But we still don't know who she is, or what she's planning to do.", said Calypso.

"She has an apprentice known Agent Rainbow. Maybe look into Iris?", ask Annabeth, clearly thinking out loud.

"Wait. I had a note from RED telling me that Iris was part of the answer. You should check on her too.", announce Calypso.

"Okay. Good luck with your missions, Crew. I will take my leave.", announce Tartarus before dissolving back into a shadow.

* * *

Rachel Elizabeth Dare didn't feel the two days of school rolling off the calendar.

Then, when she entered her room, she noticed something.

The glass, stained by her father's will, reflected a color. Silver.

Great. Rachel kept her cool and sighed. Mortals are unreferenced players, aren't they? Well, would you look at that.

The silver light was for now embraced by nobody, so Rachel used her costume for once, before exiting the building.

Agent Rainbow was here, in a hoodie that was covered in colored steel plates reflecting the sun in every color of the spectrum, projecting an artificial rainbow on the floor.

Smiling under her red hood, that hid her eyes, she greeted her ''apprentice ''.

"We have the hunter on our back, don't we?"

"Our common friend warned me in a prophetic dream. Artemis should warp a team on our position soon. We're watched by Apollo right now, even though the runes are holding up. The entire block is hidden from their sight."

"Good, Rainbow. So. Do you enjoy your new look?"

"I love it. A masterpiece, really."

Agent rainbow made a dance step that swirled the artificial rainbow on the street.

"You are ready to invoke in case of monsters?", asked Rachel with worry.

"Yes, _mom_. Don't worry. I made it a first time without knowing what I was doing, didn't I?"

A silver flash reflected on a building's window across the street.

"Huntresses on my 4.", warned Rachel with a finality in her tone.

"I know. I would say six of them, but only one up front. The punk one with silver pikes on her uniforms."

"Yep. Looks like the pine tree is coming to greet us. I had no idea the Hunt was dividing in two."

"We mustn't be a high priority concern for them. The others must still be searching for traces of the chimera pack of last Tuesday."

Rachel nodded, and waited until the huntress was within talking range.

"Hello, Thalia Grace. Is the Hunt dividing in two commandos group? I had no intel about that. What are miss Nightshade's feeling about such a thing?"

Thalia flinched, clearly not expecting Agents RED and Rainbow to know so much about her.

"They say you know a lot about what's happening.", said the daughter of Zeus, not bothering to greet.

"Enough to say PJ wouldn't like that way to greet allies. I am helping your adoptive little sister after all, am I not?", snarled Rachel.

"PJ is dead, and my adoptive sister is on a team on her own."

"It's not the first time that the two half-souled is dead", warned Agent Rainbow.

Tension was now obvious.

"What do you want huntress? I'm sure those five friends of yours would have fired already if you wanted to kill us, and you have yet to ask me any questions so I could deny you any answer."

"My mistress wishes to take you on Olympus for interrogation. The only reason your chest isn't bleeding with a silver arrow in it is because you have yet to disobey", asked very politely Thalia, without causing the narrator to go all sarcastic.

"Count me warned, and disobeying, Thalia. But before you order your friends to kill me, just let me ask you this. How is your brother?"

"He is dead and you know it."

"You could ask Bianca di Angelo to show him to you. You should. I am just afraid you'll just be… shaking those certitudes."

Agent Rainbow began to concentrate on the bulging energy within her soul, ready to burst her invocation should the need arise.

Thalia held two fingers to her ears, and arrows began to fly towards Rachel.

They phased through her.

Agent Rainbow turned toward her caretaker. "Are you alright."

"Perfectly well."

"H-how did you?", asked Thalia.

"I'm not interesting enough for those arrows to want to hurt me, Huntress."

"Impossible…" whispered the demigoddess.

"I'm very sorry, but obviously, you have no idea about what's possible and what's not. Just ask your sister what her powers are."

"W-what?"

"I think her powers are stronger than yours. Then again, you stopped being between two worlds, meaning that you can't blossom like her. Tell her to don't stop training her telekinesis for me, will ya?"

Silver cuffs appeared in Thalia's hand and phased through Rachel's wrist as well. Said Agent had now a crooked grin on her face.

"I'm sorry, Huntress, but I'm not much into this", teased Agent RED. "And if I can warn you, people will most likely think that you're rude if you shoot at them before trying the humane way."

Static electricity was now running through the spikes of silver on the Huntress' vest, as her face became as red as RED's hood.

A second flash of silver appeared before them, and Rachel thanked her shielding runes, since she didn't have enough time to look away.

Thalia was now bowing.

"Agent RED, on the behalf of Olympus, I ask you to come with me."

Rachel and Thea smirked.

* * *

 _IS THAT A CLIFFHANGER?_

 _Yes. It is. I am ''cliffhangering y'all". Why?_

 _Because I'm secretly evil, and the despair caused by this will feed me energy that will finally allow me to take over the three times holy fridge!_

 _…_

 _I should sleep…_

 _…_

 _No, really. I had a chapter pretty focused on both Agents, and I am really having fun with their smug and all-knowing attitudes._

 _Plus, you know me. I'm a sucker for a good alchemy between my characters. May they be OC's or not._

 _For this chapter I want to thank personally merendinoemiliano and Death Fury. The first one, because they showed me that I could use female characters around a male main character without people thinking I was trying to build a harem of any kind. The second, because since the very first chapter commented the story at every turn, motivating me to keep going._

 _We're now achieving the 30_ _th_ _chapter (without the first one that was just the incipit), and I really enjoyed it so far. I know I've grown quite far to the book's story line (and I plan to go even further), so please tell me if I become confusing. I am normally able to PM you an explanation, and will take your entry in account for the next chapters I will be writing._

 _Hope you enjoyed it so far!_


	32. RED rainbows and blue agents

_And then i decided that cliff-hangers were the life._

 _Sorry for those of you who hates them, but there's one i this chapter too!_

* * *

Apollo sat in front of the girl under the red hoodie.

"My name is Apollo, I…", he began, only to be cut by a bored voice.

"am the god of truth, no point in lying. I know.", answered RED.

"First of. Who are you?"

"Why can't people settle with Agent RED? I am an informant that chose your side."

Apollo couldn't help but be amazed by the way she turned his question against him. Her answer held no lie, but didn't give any information she didn't want to give to him.

"How powerful are you?"

"As powerful as a mortal. Unless you count knowledge as power. Then I am potentially as powerful as a minor goddess."

"How come?"

"I have intel. My own spying network. It's how I know about your secrets. Like the fact that you hold twice the same name. Is it Minerva behind the window?", answered the demigoddess, looking at the fake mirror.

Her interrogation cell was not unlike those of the mortals, she figured out from the series she had watched with Rainbow.

"How do you keep us out of a block in our city?"

"I figured out a way to re-use the shield that PJ used on his boat. Re-programmed it too. What good is knowledge without smarts? About the same as Hope without Will."

"What is your endgame?", asked the god of the sun.

RED smiled with a crook's smile.

"I merely serve my boss. And there's no point in asking who he/she is. Won't tell, and I know from your Ancient Laws that you can't torture me to get the info. It would count as a fight without provocation from me, and since I am considered as mortal, you can't."

Apollo heard Athena enter the room.

"I'll take it from here. She's right. You can't do anything. But I can."

RED smiled at him with competition.

"Tough sister, huh?"

Apollo lost his fake usual smile as he left the room.

"You don't know the end of it."

"I think I do.", whispered Rachel.

Athena literally fell in her chair, clapping her hands on the table.

RED gave her an unamused look.

"We can do this the easy way…"

"Or the hard way. Chaos! Are you mythological creatures obligated to be so… cliché?", complained Rachel.

Athena was shaken in her interrogation, but kept a straight face. It was psychological war. And that is her domain, so it means she was the best at it.

"Hey, just one question before we begin. If I win this interrogation, by keeping the information I have to myself… are you going to turn me in a giant spider? Because I don't really like spiders…"

Athena scowled.

"Hey!" shouted RED. "not my fault you're a sore loser, Athena. What… Can't throw your mind-born children at me to stop me?"

Athena tried to keep her cool.

"You know what's the worst? I know your fatal weakness, goddess of Wisdom. It's pride. Where do you think I hit since the beginning? Your weakness. You know what's fun? You don't know mine. You can't enter my mind, not until you find a way to drop my shield. Even then, I can flood you out. How does it feel to be the least powerful Olympian? Because, by your own mantra, you're not powerful, since you know nothing about me…"

"ENOUGH", shouted Athena.

That didn't stop RED in her tracks.

"To think you could have done it better than your brother the god of truth… I am so disappointed."

"SHUT UP!"

"Ooh", mocked Rachel, "scary. Did you learn your authority from your father? Because I then understand why my boss say you're underwhelming. How does it feel to need demigods for anything?"

She then took a sarcastically serious voice:

"DEMIGODS! My toilets are flooded. Get a prophecy, and prepare to die for my glory."

RED changed posture, changing therefore her character. In a little voice, she said:

"But… milady… can't you do it yourself?"

"ENOUGH!", continued Rachel, taking her initial position back. "I have decided so, and you shall obey! If you don't, then I will threaten you!"

Rachel swiftly changed position once more, but was stopped by a slap on her face. With a large smile, she looked at the goddess who was visibly furious.

"You don't get to **mock** me…", growled Athena. "I am an Olympian."

"You get it wrong. I get to make fun of you because you guys are ridiculous. Really. Don't get me started on all this manipulation you did to get PJ in a quest that killed him in the end. If you want me to stop, then be worth it."

Athena's face became redder. Seriously, you would begin to wonder who was called **RED**.

"I am a goddess! I am much older than you!"

"Just because you're born the way you're born doesn't mean I have to respect you. Hell, I even held more respect towards Apollo. At least he does his job! What exactly is yours? Strategist? By Chaos, your strategy concerning your children is so bad we are losing too-well needed forces over your parenting! Like all of you! How many gods did change side?"

"They weren't needed."

"Oh, shut up so you stop lying to yourself, Athena. Look at me. Even Apollo behind the tainted glass agrees that everything I did since the beginning of the war was either to help you or to help my boss helping you. And where am I? In a cell, with you failing to mentally torture me because your logic is too flawed to act like anything cleverer than a bug for five minutes!"

A blade that Rachel didn't know the name of since she didn't know blade that well entered the space she deemed safe under her throat. A sword, maybe? Well, let's agree it was a big knife.

RED shook her head.

"Oh? You're that willing to try to break my shields for nothing else than words? What is it. A bluff? I am restraining you and you know it. If you're finished with me… RAINBOW!"

Athena had to cover suddenly her ears with her hands, since she had leaned in with RED's tone getting lower and lower.

"My boss is your darkest hope and you know it."

A wave of darkness washed over her as Percy was now invoked by Thea.

* * *

Rachel was now in her apartment/bedroom.

"My boss is your darkest hope and you know it.", said Percy with a sigh. "Well, at it is mysterious, since they don't know it at all. Nevertheless, RED, you could have avoided confrontation with Olympus, you know?"

"Yeah", agreed Thea. "There was this weird girl with bows and arrows trying to tell me that boys were all jerks and that I couldn't achieve my goal in life if I knew any. I don't know any boys!"

Percy coughed a bit.

"What?", asked Thea. "I thought you were a spirit."

"I am a male spirit!", shouted Percy.

"Oh, then, let me ask you. In what possible universe do you think I know that?"

"Damn, who separated you guys at birth?", asked Rachel while taking her RED hoodie off.

It let everybody see her "I am a spy" shirt, which, Percy thought, was the perfect shirt to wear for an actual spy.

"I have to rewrite the runes around the entire block, now!", complained Rachel, "do you know how hard it is?"

Percy looked at her with a dry look.

"I literally taught you everything you know about runes."

"You could have shut it, mister I'm a slaver's ghost!"

Percy flickered in indignation, while Thea laugh heartily.

"Now who are siblings?"

" **Thea, not now!** ", said Percy and Rachel at the same time.

That only was useful to amuse the little girl more, as she tried to get out of her own hoodie. She failed due to her hands shaking too much.

Percy let go of a sigh.

"I have bad news. Which you are going to relay to the Crew. Chronos has decided to counterattack by building a new kind of weaponry, the HABEMUS system."

"What about that?"

"The HABEMUS system is a fleet of boats able to fly that can teleport one to another if attacked. The name stands for Humanitarian Aid By Extinction of Mild Unused Salvation."

"Let me guess", said Thea as she jumped on the couch and in the conversation. "Mild Unused salvation, that's Olympus?"

"Yep", nodded Percy, "They could have avoided the trouble and just named it FUCK YOU ZEUS, more especially since half of his army can't remember a name that long."

"Well, guess that even in Time' army there are shitty technocrats.", mumbled Rachel.

"Yep once more. Every boat is loaded with weaponry, with the official first use of Laser canons in a Greek war. The joke is, it's called Archimedes' Revenge. They also have a lot of missiles battery, a thrust capability of levelling a city, and menus with hot demigods. The monster equivalent of Hot-dogs."

"Except Hot dogs aren't made with dogs", guessed Rachel.

"Clearly, they had all the brainy monsters on the design and nobody competent on the menus.", said Percy with a shrug. "Well, anyway, that was clearly not enough, since the teleportation magic they have is flawed. Place an air mine at set places, and the boats will have them in their hull, thus condemning them to either stop everything to disarm them or to move and…"

"Boom", whispered Thea in awe.

"I guess you have blueprints", said Rachel.

"Indeed, I have. Just give me a bunch of paper legal sized _(A3 for those of us who have a great measuring system²]_ , and I'll draw it to you."

Rachel sighed. "Not everybody has some, you know."

"You use it to pre-draw your landscapes background, before painting them. They are on the drawer on the right of your desk.", said Percy without a care.

With another sigh, Rachel did as her technically boss asked, and he quickly began to draw the mines.

The outline of the blueprint was clear, the moves were accurate, and it made Rachel remember that Percy did indeed design the main weaponry system in The Queen Anne's revenge, as well as the main drive, the new sails, the Celestial Bronze hull, and stop me if you understand what I mean.

The air mine was looking like a giant bug, with those wings like structure around, and those antennas. Rachel didn't exactly understand the measuring on the side of the drawing, since everything written was in ancient Greek, but she definitively understood the drawings of the inside charges that were filled with Greek fire.

In the down right corner, a serial number was written and a name given. "hail the storm"

Wait, was Percy kidding? There's no way he did that pun. That was totally out of RED's character.

"Oh, and you can tell them that the joke was made by agent blue, a part of your very large network of spies.", said Percy with a timing that was only useful to wake her wonder since when he had gained the ability to read minds.

"Fine. I'll call them as soon as you leave.", growled Rachel.

"Hey, Percy, can we go shopping?", asked Thea, "I need a water pistol."

"What for, rainby?", asked Percy as he called the elevator.

"I can control rainbows, right? I feel like that would be easier to train if there were actual rainbows around", said the way-too-young-for-asking-about-new-way-to-train girl with glee at the new nickname.

They soon disappeared when the doors whooshed close. Rachel was now alone, and she began to chant the formula.

* * *

Calypso was taking a shower.

Or more accurately, using her Titaness' powers to cleanse herself of anything remotely bad in her book.

Which, you've got to admit, is a useful skill to have.

Her job done, she sat on the closed toilets and began to think.

She was playing the strong card. A card she hadn't had to use in a long time. A card she hadn't had to use since the first war. A war where she was on the other side. In a way, it made her feel… hypocritical, to always be on the defendant side. To always end up on the side of the people in control.

Clearly, she could deal with it on her own. Having to see her crew eventually either die of age or of wars.

She arched forward with that thought.

Wars.

Oh my Chaos. It was never going to end, was it.

She had already been in one. She had already feasted, talked, played, sparred, fought, yelled, whispered with people before. She had already been in a team.

There's no such thing as a war without casualties.

Is it worse to die or to live? Some days the limit blurred.

Some days she saw the life fade in the eyes of the allies she had. Some days she saw it in her dreams, and some other days she saw it in their eyes.

Their eyes. They were more than a team now. They were family, brought together by hardships, and knowing each other like they had lived with each other for all their life.

Nico was childish, but Calypso knew better than to be fooled by his appearance. The boy had one thing in the world, and that was his sister. She would always have a guardian angel, and he had decided that the role was him.

Grover was very taken by his job as a lord of Nature, but a surprisingly good listener, with that quiet wisdom he had. He had quickly become the group's psychiatrist.

Bianca was a very good shooter. But a sore loser. In those nights they spent playing endless games, everybody knew better than coming at her first.

Annabeth was… strong. There was a connection between the two, maybe because they both had to hide the way looking at people living hurt. She had obviously loved Percy, and even though he had told her it was entirely possible for him to die, she had always thought about it like a worse-case scenario. Something unlikely.

Sure, Calypso had found the young man attractive. I mean, even without her curse, he would have caught her eyes, but it had always been clear to her that Percy and Annabeth were only a matter of time. Seems like Time took the matter at hands personally with this one, didn't it?

She nearly chuckled at this, before leaning back.

She proceeded to lose her current face of depression, falling back in the comfortable numbness, before leaving it with a smile.

Calypso was a Titaness of Nature. She had spent her youth playing in the woods with birds and deers.

Never had she made anything so artificial as this smile.

She opened the door, joined the conference room/ living room/ war room/ playing room/ dining room of the ship, and sat on the sofa, beginning to watch that old show about people running from reverse trash cans that repeated their promise of extermination while climbing stairs.

Annabeth was sleeping in front of the TV on her right, somewhere under that mess they called a blanket.

Calypso smiled, and slowly replaced said blanket on Annabeth to keep her warm.

Then a rainbow popped in the room, effectively waking up said girl with a very motherly Calypso over her shoulder.

"I won't ask", said the daughter of Athena.

"Oh, and to think I was about to answer", said RED with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"What do you want, RED?"

"Once again, merely to help you. Captain Calypso, the enemy has finally decided that you were personally a pain in their asses. Felicitation. Now, they have a new weapon to take your crew down."

Calypso grunted. That was the beginning of the end.

"Happily, an associate of mine, Agent Blue, has managed to find a weakness in their new weaponry.", said RED, catching both girls attention. That was some serious intel. "HABEMUS, their new fleet, is made to teleport one ship to another, with a predictable pattern. That way, they can make a full counter-attack if you decide to make one fall from the sky. What that means, is… build this, and I trust you to calibrate it."

The rainbow then began to show a blueprint. It was a mine that had antenna lie structures and wings, made to flaps them very fast to fly in the enemy boat. Calypso turned to her first-mate to check if she thought the plan was good, only to find her stuck on the drawing, a revelation obvious on her face.

Almost as if… She knew who had drawn this.

* * *

 _Is it bad if i say i love the "interrogation" that Rachel had this chapter? Like, really, who never wished to tell a figure of authority to shut up and drown in their own contradiction?_

 _Anyway, this chapter held quite a heavy load on Calypso too, and i feel like i might make more of those psychological portraits in the count this chapter as 2764 words long, without the notes at the beginning and at the end. It is quite long in my book, and i might not be able to do that soon.  
_

 _For those of you waiting for the next chapter of_ A new mortal society _, i am working on it. Hopefully, i don't miss this month too._

 _Anyway for the second time, i wish you a good day and hope you enjoyed._

 _Elpis 21_

 _Ps:By the way, if any of you has any pointers towards bettering my description of war trauma, then please proceed. I am not a shrink, no matter how much i find the human mind fascinating. If my gawky description insulted you or your feelings in any way, you have my sincere apology. PTSD is not funny, and mocking it was not my intention._


	33. Escape game

_Hey everybody! I tried for this chapter to change slightly the way my chapters look. Please do tell me if you like it better! I can't exactly promise you it'll stick, but I'll do my best!_

* * *

Chapter 32:

Escape game.

* * *

 **Time: ~December?**

 **Place: ?**

 **Luke** was in a cell. That much was obvious.

Since his master had discovered his ability to tap into time to slow it down and speed himself up, Luke had become an asset.

Demigods belong to two worlds. The mortal one, and the godly one. Thus, they gain energy way easier than a being that only belong to one of them.

This was Luke's explanation anyway.

When a being gains more energy than it can holds, its soul burn itself up, until its essence explodes in a white, bright and not much colder than a star's core.

That had been Chronos gamble.

Do you see why Chronos think of Luke as an asset? He is breaking the laws of Nature (physics doesn't have much hold on the demigods), and he can easily become the godly equivalent of a nuke.

To those in the back that don't have much knowledge, that would be like putting Zeus bolt to the rank of a lithium battery used as a taser.

Cute. Little. Way. To. Annihilate. The. World.

Isn't it funny how well Luke and Nuke rhyme together?

No, it isn't. Not to Luke.

Luke is a hero.

Deny it if you want, but it is true.

Of course, everybody's the main character of their own stories. Of course, nobody lives without a goal.

But Luke's goal isn't remotely evil. That's not how things work.

Will he gain more power in the operation? Sure. Will he use them? Of course.

But Luke doesn't want to rule anything. He doesn't want to be god's equal or anything.

He just wants to stop a regime who think they can throw children in the streets as food for ten stores high creatures.

If that's evil, then the entire earth is, and may Chaos in her pity burn it all up.

Sure, Luke knows that the titans won't be gentle with mankind. He isn't stupid. He has a plan. Once his power will be reckoned by the titans, he will be able to protect civilizations.

Hell, the more powerful the Titan's enemy are, the more likely they are to respect him and his demands for mankind's freedom if he wins.

That was the plan.

A well thought, foolish plan made by a brat with a hero complex that didn't understand a single syllable in the word "backstabbing".

In his cell, a white cell with no door nor window, just an air intake the size of a lamp, and a clock (courtesy of the lord of Time, thank you very much) that was seemingly broken, Luke hit his head on the iron bar large as his arm that was supposed to be his bed.

He wondered how stupid it all was. Now, Chronos only had to change the first letter in his name tow ranks on the right to change Luke in Nuke.

Luke in Nuke.

Luke shivered at the thought.

Luke in Nuke.

He was supposed to save the world from the weight of its own contradictions!

Luke in Nuke.

Now? He was going to end it.

Luke in Nuke.

Willing or not.

Luke in nUKE.

Why did his sisters not save him?

lUKE in nUKE.

Why, Annabeth, Thalia? Why didn't you stop him?

 **LUKE IS NUKE**

Luke let himself slide on the ground, defeated by the sound of reality.

Luke is nuke.

He began to hug his knees.

Nobody to save him.

Luke, this puke, the duke of nuke… is alone.

Luke is nuke.

HE began to see images of explosions, always spectacular, always blowing one's mind by their sheer power.

A white, biding light of despair.

You know what?

Luke is nuke?

No.

Luke is luke.

Fuck consequences. Nothing could be worse than changing the world irremediably in a desert of essence radiations.

Fuck this cell, fuck the titans, fuck time.

Luke is going to get out. Then, he'll carry out a new plan, a better plan.

See, life? Luke doesn't even have lemons. He'll build, fight, create himself a lemonade.

And nobody is going to stop him.

Gods are only as powerful as you make them to be. The same could be told for primordials, titans, and fate.

If Luke is going to blow, then Time's going down with him.

Luke let his knee's go. Stood up. Remembered the feeling of time. The feeling of being around everything, everywhere, and to be the gears of destiny.

His powers flared up.

Time slowed down.

His heartbeat stopped.

Not his soul. Not his mind. Not his determination. Not under his watch.

A new glow lit in his eyes. A golden glow of power. Luke touched the walls of the frozen in time walls.

Dust began to appear. The paint began to crumble.

Time is his to command. Not the other way around.

The walls cried, growled, bowed, stood, but in the end, everything is dust.

Luke stepped out of the smoke that was solid no fraction of time ago.

And then he began to walk out.

It appeared that he was under carful and constant watch, as many monsters were standing behind screens, to look in shock at pointers.

For a relative instant, he expected them to shout, to run after him, to try to stop him. To fight. But this was the power that let PJ make a volcano fly. This is what the two worlds melted together looks like.

Luke looked at the screens, watching as some monsters were joking on instant messaging (what an irony) at his ''weakness ''. Some others were slacking of work, looking at Chrysador's new record of boat speed (Queen Anne's Revenge not counted in).

Luke sighed with envy at the innocence some monsters would have.

He began to touch their faces.

In the end, everything turns to dust.

They didn't suffer.

One instant they were here, and the same instant they were not.

Explaining evolutions or changes when time is frozen is no easy task, is it?

 **(AN: No, it is not.)**

Luke looked at the fire emergency plan of the facility. No one would think that a monster base would have those, am I right? You know, the ones with green arrows that lead you to the nearest exit?

Making them mandatory was one of Luke's decision.

Look at this pay off!

He chuckled, then followed the arrows to escape the smoke.

What smoke, would one ask.

In the end, everything turns to dust.

The facility was in a remote area, far away from the god's sphere of influence. Luke was in Chili, or Argentina.

How did he know that? Easy.

After having traveled for a bit, he met a white stone where something was written:

"Monumento Cabo de Hornos"

Luke was no genius, and the frozen air as well as the frozen time were taking a toll on his ability to draw conclusions. But from the looks of things, he was on the land that gave view to the Cap Horn.

"Welcome to the land of Fire.", he mumbled, before shivering due to the temperature.

He had to go somewhere warm, and quick.

Turning around, he saw a weird looking structure certainly made to celebrate the waypoint. It could hide him from the cold wind, but not from the cold. Tourists were there, frozen in time admiring slabs with description written on it.

Chronos had obviously thought that he would never escape, because his prisoner suit was still warm enough to make his torso keep comfortable temperature. However, he was soon going to lose his arms and then his legs.

Since there was a route to follow, Luke decided to do just that. And he lost track of time marching to a safe heaven. Which could be funny if time wasn't still stopped.

There was a lighthouse in the middle of somewhere, and Luke entered.

He breathed hard, and dropped the time spell.

Instantly, he noticed energy flowing back in his system, reaching out to his every vein, and his skin covering with white circles connected by a network of lines.

He knew one thing: it was bad.

Luke's soul was like burning up, and for the first time in his life he could feel his essence. Said essence was now pounding on his soul, like an over-pressurized balloon, and threatening to make it all go boom.

Mortals were seemingly noticing something, since they were pointing at him, talking in too many different languages at the same time for him to understand anything.

The light house was a south pole's equivalent of a tourist trap.

Lue sighed, and began to try and shield himself from the energy that never stopped to fall in him like matter in a black hole.

A layer of thin gold light appeared onto his skin, and Luke sat on the ground in a meditative pause.

It was time to think. Obviously, he had to go home, but walking something like half of a circumference of earth was not a plan. At least not a great one.

Now think, Luke Castellan, because even though the light house is heated, it still is lowering your body temperature slowly.

Well, Luke remembered something like heat is the vibration of particles… normally, speeding them up is heating up, right?

Luke mentally thanked Annabeth for her genius at 7. Now remained the question: how to go home, and don't be sent back here?

Let's make a resume of his powers, shall we? Luke is a son of Hermes, that can totally manipulate time, and is literally overflowing with energy.

The son of Hermes bit might be useful for once.

Hermes is the god of messengers, and protector of everything that takes a road.

Is it a stretch to say that his children can warp? Yes. Is Luke desperate? Good question. How much was he willing to bet, what could he wage on this plan? And once he was there, what would he do? The gods would smite him, and the titans would just… Boom.

Luke's body escaped his control for a moment, a special kind of mushroom growing in his imagination, wiping out the human race like…

Nope! Not thinking about becoming literally overpowered. Not thinking about it.

Now, how did PJ hide his power? I mean, even with the fact that he was split, he should have been powerful enough to, I don't know… been seen by some gods?

Luke thought about it. PJ's boat had a magical shield, and Chronos was unable to access it. It wouldn't be a trench to say that the demigod could keep gods and titans alike afar from where he wants.

Maybe…

Luke's thoughts were interrupted by a very angry looking woman taking him by his shirt and dragging him out.

Immediately, Luke heated up the air around him, and he looked at her.

She was seemingly middle aged, with very brownish eyes. She was wearing a dress and a crown.

"Finally found you, little shit", said his aggressor.

"Okay. You want to kill me, and I get it. One question, though. Who are you?"

"My name is Gaia, and I'm the mother of the child you killed in the Labyrinth."

Luke cringed. Okay. That explained a lot. Not everything, but an awful lot.

"Well, my name is…", began Luke.

"Corpse. Your name is corpse.", cut Gaia. "The only reason I'm here is to know what you did to my son's soul! Why is it not in the Underworld? Where is his body?"

Luke took a step back.

"His soul isn't…"

A rock flipped him.

"His soul… He tricked… Oh."

A realization look hit his face.

"Guess he never died in the first place", mumbled the anti-hero.

"I had his corpse in my embrace for one minute before it disappeared."

"He _is_ a soul traveler, isn't he? He is able to get out of a decaying body. Must have taken out of your grasp to repair it… Man. I'm so dead."

One of Gaia's eyebrow raised.

"So, what? He is hiding from me? From Night and Day? From The surface of water, earth, most of the trees, and didn't sleep? It's been six months, and we're back at the time of the year where Hestia's at full capacity. AND. SHE. WOULDN'T. HAVE. FOUND. HIM?"

Luke's eyes widened as he noticed how dangerously close he was to the cliff, and how the earthquakes became rampant.

Time stopped, as Luke considered his option.

"What do I do?"

* * *

 _Sorry for being late, but you know…_

 _Exams!_

 _So don't expect a chapter in the two next weeks, because I'll be fully using them to work!_

 _It's gonna be fine!_

 _*sobs* why? Why exams?_

 _…_

 _Anyway, we've reached another point that I found interesting. Now Luke can grow out of his bad guy role and finally become more than a ball of walking daddy issues._


End file.
